A Rose By Any Other Name
by ReikaRose
Summary: Caught between the Organization and the Heartless, Rose must decide which path to take in order to save her friends from total darkness. With the help of Riku and Sora, she must try to forge her own path away from her father who tries to manipulate her into leading Sora towards darkness and becoming another one of his pawns.
1. Introduction

"Isa wait up! You're going to fast!" a young boy around the age of sixteen shouted as he chased down his friend. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, running a hand through his bright red hair, his emerald green eyes looking exhausted. "We still have plenty of time to see the princesses!" he told his friend.

Isa, other boy around the same age, stopped in his tracks, as he placed both of his hands on his hips in frustration. The wind blew through his short blue hair and cyan colored eyes as he squinted in annoyance.

"We're going to be late, Lea! It's been forever since anyone's been able to go inside the castle. We only have one shot before they close the door again and I want to sneak inside" Isa told his friend, as Lea finally caught up with him.

Lea sighed and straightened up, shaking his short red mane of hair at his friend Isa, "You are impossible sometimes" he said as he started to walk past him, lifting his hands up over his head and putting them behind, "What are you waiting for? You said we were in a hurry." Lea said cockily. Isa sighed and followed after his friend, a small amused smile on his- face as he caught up to Lea.

The finally made it to the castle and to their surprise, the was at least one hundred people standing around waiting to see the princesses. Isa held out a hand, stopping his friend from moving forward. Lea stopped and glanced over towards Isa, nodding his head as if he understood. Isa led Lea behind a bunch of bushes and watched.

"Man there is sure a lot of people here" Lea commented as they hid behind the bushes to wait for their opportunity to sneak in. They had heard that this castle is where all the Keyblade Masters stayed when they weren't on missions and they wanted to meet some of them. They also heard the princesses also were being trained to become Keyblade Masters themselves.

Isa nodded in agreement, moving to get a better view of the door, "So the plan is in to sneak inside while everyone is distracted. We'll only have a few minutes so make them count, okay?" he instructed, turning his attention to Lea. Lea nodded and glanced back in the direction of the door.

"I got it memorized" he replied, moving closer towards the door as he noticed something happening with the doors. The doors of the castle slowly began to open, as the guards who had been posted outside ushered people to move out of the way to make room. Lea grinned and watched in anticipation. "Let me know when to go, Isa! I'm ready" he told his friend.

Isa nodded and watched the doors, pausing in shock as the princesses came out, once the doors had been fully opened.

There stood two girls around their age in beautiful gowns. One girl had bright orange hair that flowed down to the middle of her back and curled slightly. Her emerald green eyes shining in the bright sunlight, as she held a Keyblade in her hands delicately.

The Keyblade was black in color and looked like it had vines all over leading to the handle that had a bright red rose on it, clearly made of ruby. The other girl, who was the same height as the other girl, looked almost identical to her but her hair was black in color and she had two distinct colored eyes. One eye was a bright blue and the other a bright green which made her look mysterious and beautiful.

Lea shook Isa's arm as if trying to snap his friend out of a daze. Isa shook his head, then glanced at Lea who had a large grin on his face, "They are something aren't they?" Lea said to his friend, looking back in the direction of the princesses. "I really like orange haired girl, shes really pretty."

Isa nodded in agreement, watching the dark haired girl with interest. He always had a thing for the dark mysterious type and knew he wanted to meet her and get to know her as Lea wanted to get to know the orange haired girl, "They are, but we can't lose our focus now. We have to get in while everyone is distracted" he said as he stood up.

Lea followed after Isa, both of them sneaking behind the bushes as not to be detected by anyone. Once they got closer to the doors, Isa motioned for Lea to follow him in through the side.

Once inside, they quickly found a place to hide as they tried to catch their breath. They could not believe they had actually managed to sneak inside undetected. Isa found a small room and led his friend inside, closing the door quietly behind them. Lea paused and glanced around, realizing they had found the castle's library.

In the center of the room, a boy around the age of fourteen sat, his face buried in a book, sitting on a red couch. The boy glanced up from his book, a small frown on his face, but didn't say anything. Lea took a step back, his hands up in defense.

"Hey, man! Sorry to intrude. My friend and I were looking for the washroom and we got lost" he said, laughing nervously as he scratched the back of his head. The boy shook his head and put his book down, the door to the library slowly opening. In the doorway stood the orange haired princess. The Keyblade was no longer in her hand, but she hand her hands firmly placed on her hips.

"I thought I heard something in here! What are you two doing sneaking around in our castle?" she asked, eyeing both of them as if waiting to see if they were going to put up a fight. Lea turned to look at her, his face turning as red as his hair.

"I-We're sorry! We didn't mean to we were just looking for-" he paused when the second princess appeared in the doorway, a look of confusion on her face.

"What's going on Risa? Who are these two?" she asked, placing a hand on her sisters arm. Risa turned her attention to her sister and smiled, linking her arm through her sisters.

"Don't worry, Gill. They're just two boys who wanted to see the beautiful princesses up close" she told her sister as the walked into the doorway, leading her sister over to where the boys stood in shock. The boy on the couch stood up, putting his book down on the couch, walking past them and out the door without a word.

Risa grinned and stopped in front of Lea, letting go of her sisters arm. She then held out a hand to him, as if expecting him to introduce himself properly. Lea stuttered for a moment, taking her hand and placed a kiss on the back of it.

"N-nice to meet you princess Risa. My name is Lea and this is my friend, Isa" he said, a shy grin on his face. Risa smiled and pulled her hand gently from his, brushing the bangs from her face that had fallen there.

"Nice to meet you, Lea. This is my twin sister, Gillian. Now, tell us why you're actually here" she said, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. Lea laughed nervously was about to respond to her question, but was stopped by Isa who shook his head as if warning him not to say anything. Lea rolled his eyes at his friend and turned his attention back to Risa.

"We heard this is where the Keyblade Mastered stayed and thought it would be cool to meet them" he told her, a grin on his face, "and told there would be pretty girls too" Lea added just for the sake of it. Risa rolled her eyes and lowered her arms from their position as she turned away from the boys.

"Let me get changed out of this horrible outfit and I can take you to see uncle Ansem" she said, knowing full well the reason why they were actually here. She then started to head towards the door. Lea glanced at Isa, waiting for his reaction. Isa glanced back at him and shrugged, following after Risa with Lea in tow.

Gillian watched them leave and decided to stay a bit longer in the library. She wanted no part in what her sister had planned. She sat down on the plush leather couch and plucked a book from the bookshelf beside her. Gillian glanced up when a tall dark haired boy walked in. She smiled and lowered her book to greet him.

"Hi, Isaac! How are you doing?" she asked the boy. Isaac smiled in her direction, his bright blue eyes shining with affection. He was about six foot tall with bright blue eyes and black hair that went to his shoulders but always wore in a ponytail. Isaac was one of the guards who grew up with the princesses and was in charge of watching over them.

"I'm doing fine. Where's Risa? Where has she run off to?" he asked, glancing around the room. Gillian rolled her eyes and pointed in the direction of the door.

"She took two boys to see Uncle Ansem. One had red hair, the other blue. It's the boys who were always trying to sneak inside" she explained. Isaac sighed loudly, showing his annoyance and made his way back to the doorway.

"I'll handle this one myself" he told her as he disappeared out the door, Keyblade in hand.

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Risa led the two boys to where they thought was the room Ansem was in, but in fact it was her bedroom instead. She opened the door and led them inside, closing the door once they had both entered. Lea paused and looked around the room, soon realizing this wasn't the room he was expecting.

"Um, is this your bedroom?" he questioned, his attention turning to her. Risa shrugged and made her way over to the screen where she changed and disappeared behind it.

"I told you I had to change before taking you to see Uncle Ansem. Now, no peeking!" she ordered as she began to change out of her dress. Risa pulled the dress up over her head and tossed it aside on the floor. The dress landed in front of the two boys, causing them both to blush in embarrassment.

When she was done changing, she came back out wearing a pair of black leather pants and a red shirt that hung over her shoulders. Risa watched their reaction and noticed both of the boys were staring at the floor.

"You guys act like you've never been around girls before" she laughed as she looped her arms in each of the boys arms and pulled them in the direction of the door. Both boys followed silently as she led them in the direction of Ansem's study. Once there, she opened the door and peered inside. "Uncle Ansem! You have visitors!" she shouted. Ansem, a man in his mid forties peered up from what he was working on. He had bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore a lab coat, purple tie and his famous red scarf around his neck.

"What have I told you about bringing people in here, Risa!" Ansem shouted as he stood. "We do very important work here and we don't want just anybody coming in here and sticking their nose where it doesn't belong" he chastised her. Risa flinched at his tone and took a step back.

"Im sorry, uncle. They just really wanted to meet you, that's all I swear" she tried to explain, a look of hurt in her eyes. Lea looked at her then back to Ansem, a furious look on his face. He clenched his fists and made his way over to Ansem's desk.

"Listen here! You can't just talk to anyone any way you want to! This is your niece and I think she deserves more respect than that! Got it memorized?!" he practically shouted, his tone harsh. Ansem put down the pen he was using to write and moved around the desk to stand in front of the boy. Without a word he raised his hand and slapped Lea so hard across the face, he landed on the floor.

"This is none of your concern, boy. The way I choose to speak to my niece is none of your concern. Now, I suggest you and your friend leave here immediately before we throw you out" he said as he turned away, moving to sit back in his chair without another word. Risa gasped and rushed over, kneeling down beside Lea as she examined his face.

"Lea! Are you okay?" she asked in concern, examining the spot where he had been struck, putting her hand on his cheek. Lea, his usual grin on his face, put his hand over hers.

"I'm totally fine. I was more worried about you" he assured her, taking her hand and helping her up off the floors. As they stood, Isaac came in through the door, his Keyblade still in hand, followed by two other guards who were usually posted at the front doors.

"Come on you two. You know you're not suppose to be here" he said, firmly gripping his Keyblade in case they chose to fight. Risa started to say something, but was interrupted by Lea who put his hand out to stop her and shook his head.

"It's fine, Risa. We'll see each other again, okay?" he assured her as he kissed the back of her hand again before letting go and walking in the direction of the door. Risa watched him and his friend Isa leaving with Isaac and the two other guards Aeleus and Dilan who usually stood guard at the front of the castle. She then turned her attention to Ansem, a furious look on her face.

"How could you?! I just wanted to have new friends! Why do you always do this?!" she exclaimed, practically shouting in his face. Ansem carefully put his pen down again, having been use to her temper tantrums. He glanced up at her, a firm look on his face.

"I will not have you speak to me in that tone, young lady. I'm doing what is best for you and your sister. You know if Xehanort finds out you are here then he will take you away again. Do you really want that?" Ansem reminded her as he lowered his head again, going back to what he was working on.

Risa's eyes began to fill with tears as he reminded her of her father who had tried to use her and her sister for experiments for most of their lives. She turned away from him as a tear fell down her cheek. Risa headed towards the door, Isaac once again appearing in the doorway. She didn't even look up at him as she furiously wiped the tear away and headed in the direction of her bedroom.

Once inside, she closed the door firmly, making sure to lock it before heading over to her favorite window. Risa sat down on the plush window seat and watched outside. She saw Lea and Isa heading in the direction of the town, clearly having been thrown out by Isaac and the others. Risa watched intently as she she hoped Lea would turn around to see her in the window.

Sure enough, a few moments later, Lea turned to look back at the castle. He soon locked eyes with Risa and a large grin began to spread across his face. Risa smiled and wipes the tears from her eyes, moving to unlatch the window and opened it. She made a motion for him to come around the back of the castle, hoping he would understand her. Lea nodded and gave her a thumbs up, assuring her he understood and grabbed Isa's arm, leading him in the direction of the back of the castle.

Risa quickly stood up from her spot and rushed towards the door, quickly unlocking it and peered outside. She made she no one was around before heading out and closing the door softly behind her. Risa made her way in the direction of the kitchens, where she was stopped by Isaac.

"Where do you think you're going, Risa?" he questioned, stopping her in her tracks. Risa paused and glanced up at him, a small smile on her face. She knew she was a good liar and Isaac had always believed her.

"I'm going to get a snack from the kitchen. Do you want anything?" she asked him sweetly, knowing he always fell for her charm. Isaac's expression softened as he reached up to ruffle her hair.

"I'm fine, but thank you. Just don't get into anymore trouble, okay?" he said firmly as he walked past her. Risa grinned from ear to ear at her victory as she continued on to the kitchen.

Once at the kitchen, she made her way to the back where the servants exit was, sneaking past the chefs busy at work. Risa made sure no one was paying attention before she unlatched the door and was face to face with Lea and Isa. Risa's grin grew as she practically launched herself at Lea, giving him the biggest hug possible. Lea gasped and caught her, trying to keep both of them balanced as he laughed.

"Missed me already? It's only been five minutes" he teased as he hugged her tightly against him. Risa sighed happily and pulled away slightly so she could look him in the eye.

"Take me with you" she said simply, "I'm tired of all these rules here! I can't have any friends and it sucks so much!" Risa said. Lea blinked a few times, trying to process what she was saying to him.

"Why would you want to live with us? We're not anybody special" he replied, a confused tone in his voice. "Besides, how are we suppose to sneak you out with Tweedledee and Tweedledum on guard?" Lea questioned. Risa rolled her eyes in amusement as she pulled away from Lea and turned her attention to Isa.

"You're probably the smart one. How do you think you could sneak me out?" she asked him, already knowing the answer, but wanted to see if he understood. Isa looked at her for a brief moment before glancing up at the sky.

"At night time. There's only one guard at night and he's usually asleep" he responded to her question. He really didn't want to go with this plan, but knew once Lea put his mind to something, he knew he couldn't change it. Risa smiled, happy he understood so she didn't have to explain it.

Lea rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that she had basically called him stupid. "Well, duh. Even I knew that" he said sarcastically, "So what time do you want to do this?" he said, turning his attention to her once again. Risa turned to him with a smile on her face.

"Midnight is the perfect time. That's when Dilan's usually half asleep and Aeleus has already gone to bed" she explained. Lea and Isa glanced at each other for a moment, both nodding in agreement to her plan. Risa clapped her hands together happily before turning away from them again.

"See you then!" she said as she rushed through the door again, making sure to close and lock it again. Risa walked back in the direction of the kitchen and plucked an apple from the basket as she walked by, taking a bite of it. She made her way back out the door and was soon stopped by Gillian. Risa sighed and took another bite of her apple, knowing her sister already knew what she was up to.

"You know you're going to get caught, right?" she said to her sister, arms crossed over her chest. Risa rolled her eyes, then looked back at her sister.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, sis" she said as she moved past her sister, but was soon stopped by a hand.

"Why do you always insist on making Uncle Ansem upset? He's only trying to do what's best for us and keep us safe" Gillian explained to her sister. Risa turned her emerald eyes to her sister, an annoyed look on her face.

"You're always defending him! He's been doing nothing but controlling us since we got here! All these stupid rules all the time and I'm sick of it! If you don't want to follow me then fine that's your loss! If you want to come with me, meet me at Midnight at the servants exit" she practically shouted, pushing past her sister without another word.

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At around eleven thirty at night, Risa began packing a small bag to take with her for her journey. She only packed the essentials and would buy things later if she needed to. She paused when she heard the door open behind her, quickly pushing the bag under her bed with her foot, hoping the person didn't see it. Risa turned her attention to the door, noticing her sister standing there.

"What do you want?" she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice, as she continued to pack her things. Gillian walked over, making sure the door was closed and locked behind her, pausing beside her sister.

"It's not too late to change your mind. I'm sure Uncle Ansem would go easier on us if we explained how we feel" she said, touching her sisters arm. Risa paused to look at Gillian, trying to stop herself from laughing at her comment.

"You are so naive, sister" she said, a small laugh escaping her lips. "Do you really believe he's suddenly going to change his mind after eight years of trying to control us? Then you're just as stupid as him if you think that" Risa spat as she pulled her arm away from Gillian. Gillian watched her sister for a moment, a hurt look in her eyes, before turning away from her.

"Do what you want then. If you get killed out there, don't say I didn't warn you" she spat back as she tossed something on the bed, heading back out the door and closed it behind her.

Risa paused to look at what she had tossed on the bed. Her eyes began to fill with tears as she picked up the small stuffed rabbit they had both shared when they were little. It was a present from their uncle when he took them in.

She held it for a few moments before brushing the tears from her eyes furiously and stuffed the rabbit into her bag before tossing it over her shoulder and headed out the door. Risa peered her head out to make sure the coast was clear and headed to the kitchen again. She made sure to keep in the shadows in case Isaac showed up to try and stop her.

After a few minutes, she had finally made it to the kitchen where all the staff was gone, except a few people who were kept around in case Ansem or anyone needed something to eat. One of the servants glanced up at her and smiled.

"Fancy a Midnight snack, miss?" they asked. Risa smiled and pulled a small coin from her purse and handed it to the servant.

"Could you make me a small care package for a journey I'm going on, please?" she asked as she sat down on one of the stools. The servant glanced at the coin and nodded, before turning to make what she had asked for.

A few minutes later, the servant had everything all wrapped up in a bundle for her. She placed it down in front of Risa, a sad look on their face.

"I'm guessing you are finally leaving, Miss Risa?" the servant asked. Risa nodded and smiled, putting the packaged inside her bag.

"Yea, I'm tired of the rules around here. Please take care of my sister, okay?" she said as she quickly hugged the servant before heading out the door. "Also, please lock this behind me" Risa said as she disappeared out the door. A few minutes later, Lea appeared from behind the bush, his usual grin on his face.

"You're early" he said. Risa nodded and pulled an apple out of her bag, handing it to him.

"Sorry. I was just really excited to finally get out of there. I hope I'm not going to cause you and Isa too much trouble" she said sheepishly. Lea's grin grew wider as he accepted the apple, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

"You would never be too much trouble, got it memorize?" he said as he led her in the direction of where Isa was waiting for them. Risa paused when they got to the edge of the bushed and glanced up at the castle. In the window of her room stood her sister, watching them. She made a small wave in her direction before turning away and heading towards her new adventure.


	2. Chapter 1: The Boy Under the Mask

_One Year Later..._

Risa sat on the side of the wall near the town square, eating a blue Popsicle ice cream that the person that gave it to her called 'Sea Salt Ice cream.' To her left sat Isa who also had an ice cream and to her right sat Lea. It had been a year since she saw her sister and uncle and she was happy to finally be out of that place. Risa lived with Isa and Lea outside of the town in a small farming community. She had also decided to dye her hair a dark purple, much to Lea's disappointment as he really loved her natural hair. Lea and Isa both started to grow their hair out as well, both having their hair down to their shoulders now, which made them look even more handsome than before.

Lea reached a free hand over to Risa and put his over hers, a grin on his face. They had been dating for a year now and he could not be happier. Risa smiled over at him, not saying a word as she enjoyed her ice cream, enjoying his company like she always did.

Isa, who had finally met up with Gillian again, started getting to know her over the past year and they began dating. Though, he would avoid bringing her around the farm in case he upset Risa, not knowing that her and her sister were okay and Risa thought her sister was still mad at her that's why her sister never came around.

"It's so beautiful outside!' Risa commented as she leaned against her free hand, closing her eyes and tilting her head back towards the sun. She loved being outside and was glad she could finally come back to the town. Risa didn't mind the town, it was the castle she lived in she hated.

Risa paused for a second when she saw someone she slightly recognized, practically dropping her ice cream when she soon realized who it was. It was her father Xehanort, accompanied by Dilan and the other guard she never bothered to remember what his name was. But, what shocked her the most was he was leading a young boy about her age with bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Risa moved closer to Lea, trying to hide her face in case her father recognized her.

"What's wrong, Risa?" Lea questioned, putting an arm around her shoulders. Risa nodded her head slightly in the direction of Xehanort and the others who accompanied him. She had told him about what happened over the course of the year she lived with them and it still made his blood boil. Lea clenched his fist that was around her shoulders and went to stand up, but was stopped by Risa.

"Please don't. I don't want him seeing me" she pleaded, trying to push him back. Xehanort paused for a second when he saw some movement in the corner of his eye. He turned in their direction, a small smile on his face.

"Where have you been hiding my child? It's been so long since I've seen you! Come here and give your father a hug" he said, holding out his arms in her direction. Risa had a look of disgust on her face as she hopped down from the wall, backing up slightly.

"Why in the world would I do something like that? I see you have a new puppet to play with. It's a shame you haven't changed one bit" Risa spat, turning away from him. She quickly grabbed Lea and Isa's hands, heading in the direction of their house, not even giving him enough time to say anything. "And don't try to follow me, you'll regret it" she added.

"You will rectify the damage you have caused, child. Mark my words" Xehanort spat back at her, taking the blonde boy by the hand and continuing on in the direction of the castle.

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Risa quickly led Lea and Isa behind the closest bush she could find and practically collapsed on the ground. Thankfully, Lea caught her and let her down gently, a concerned look on his face.

"Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost" he commented, kneeling down beside her. Risa nodded and gave him a small smile, glancing towards Isa's concerned face and back to Lea again.

"I'm fine, I promise. Just seeing my father again after so many years is quite a shock" she explained as she leaned back against the bush. "I just can't believe he's still going on with his plans. That poor boy" Risa said sadly, looking down at her hands so Lea wouldn't see her cry. She hated crying in front of other people, especially Lea. Lea frowned and sat down beside her, taking her hand into his own.

"I'm sure he will be fine! He looks like a strong kid and he had a Keyblade so he can't be that weak" he explained to her. Risa glanced up at him after wiping the tears from her eyes.

"He had a Keyblade? How did I not notice" she said, trailing off in her own thoughts. Lea stood up suddenly, a determined look on his face.

"Let's go save him! it's the least we can do for him!" he said, sounding more determined by the minute. Risa frowned and shook her head, not believing what he was saying.

"It's not that easy, Lea. My father is a very powerful man who also wields a Keyblade. All we can do now and watch over him and make sure he doesn't manipulate him like he did to my sister and myself" Risa explained as she stood up. "I know someone who can help us watch over him since we can't get to close" she said as she took his hand and pulled him the direction of the castle.

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Once there, she paused at the back door where the servants exit was, making sure no one was around before knocking on the door, being sure to use the secret knock she use to use to sneak out and get back in without her uncle noticing she left in the first place. A few moments later, the door opened and her favorite servant Xyle opened the door. Xyle paused and a large grin spread on his face.

"Risa! It's been so long! How are you my dear?" he said, pulling her into a tight hug. Risa laughed and hugged her friend back, pulling gently away from him.

"I'm fine! I actually came here to ask you a favor! Do you know where Isaac is? I really need to talk to him" Risa explained. Xyle paused thoughtfully and glanced around to make sure the coast was clear and ushered her inside.

"Come, he's in the library reading. Your friends will have to stay here though" Xyle told them. Risa nodded and glanced back at Lea and Isa. Both nodded in unison, agreeing to what they were saying. She quickly pecked Lea on the cheek before disappearing through the door with Xyle.

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A few minutes later, after several attempts at getting to the library undetected and almost getting caught, they finally made it there. Xyle motioned for her to hide in the shadows in case Isaac wasn't alone. Risa nodded and quickly complied, backing away from the door. Xyle opened the door and peered in, noticing Isaac was in fact not alone. He was talking to a gentleman with short brown hair and bright blue eyes. Beside him sat a man with a shaven head and a lit cigarette in his hand, who sat lazily against the couch and simply listened.

"Glad to have you back, Terra. I see you brought your friend Leo back with you" Isaac said, making polite conversation with the two. Risa paused when she heard them speak, realizing Terra, who had been her childhood friend, was finally back from his mission. Accompanying him was Leo, his best friend who had always been around as well and always teased her growing up. Risa quickly pushed Xyle to the side and burst into the room, startling Leo who almost dropped his cigarette and the others.

"TERRA! You're back!" she practically shouted, rushing over to give her friend a hug. Terra, with the force of her hug almost knocked the couch backwards almost taking Leo with them.

"Risa?! Is that you? What have you done to your hair!" he exclaimed, pulling her quickly into a hug before pulling her back so he could take a look at her. Risa grinned and glanced over at Isaac who still had a dumbfounded look on his face, trying to understand what he was seeing.

"Do you like it? I thought I needed a change" she told him, laughing. Isaac finally snapped out of it after a few moments and quickly stood up, placing both hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Risa. What are you doing here? Do you know how much trouble you could be in for being here after that stunt you pulled?" he told her, looking her straight in the eye. Risa frowned and glanced away, an ashamed look on her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you what I was doing, Isaac. I knew you would have tried to stop me and I didn't want you getting hurt" she said softly. Isaac's look softened at her words as he pulled her into a hug, placing one hand on the top of her head.

"I know, I'm sorry" he said softly as he held her closely for a moment before pulling away from her. "I was so worried about you. Please never do that again, okay?" Isaac said affectionately. Risa nodded and smiled up at him, glad to see her friends again.

"I actually came here to ask you guys a favor! I saw father Xehanort heading to the castle with a young boy about my age. I was wondering if you could watch over him and make sure he doesn't get hurt" she said, a pleading look in her eyes. Isaac glanced over in the direction of Terra and Leo, both of them nodding in agreement.

"We would love to help you. For our sakes though, you may want to leave here as soon as possible before Ansem realizes you're here" he told her, leading her to the doorway. Risa nodded and was about to follow him, pausing in her tracks as the door opened. Ansem was in the doorway with the young boy in tow. Risa quickly ducked behind Isaac, thankful for his height which hopefully prevented him from seeing her.

"I knew I heard someone talking in here. Isaac, we have a new vistor in the castle. This is Ventis and he will be staying here with us and training under Master Eraqus for the Keyblade Mastery exams" Ansem explained, glancing around the room before pausing on Terra. "Terra, I want you to help him train and study alongside Aqua" he told him. Terra nodded and put a hand over his chest.

"Yes Master Ansem" he replied. Ansem paused again, glancing in the direction of Isaac again, acting as if he knew she was behind him, but didn't say a word. He then turned towards the door once again, walking out without a word before closing the door, leaving Ventis with the others. Risa waited a few moments before peering out from behind Isaac, a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, that was close" she said, stepping out from behind Isaac. Ventis, who was by the door the whole time, glanced up, locking eyes with Risa. Risa smiled back shyly and made her way over to him.

"Hi Ventis, I'm Risa. Nice to meet you!" she said, holding out a hand in his direction. Ventis glanced down at her hand then back to her face, unsure of what to say or do. Risa laughed lightly and took his hand, shaking it. "I see you're a little shy. That's fine though! I know Isaac and Terra will take good care of you. And Leo too, I guess" she added, sending a teasing wink in Leo's direction that made him roll his eyes in amusement.

"Ri-sa" Ventis suddenly said, holding her hand that was still in his own. Risa smiled and pulled Ventis into a hug.

"That's my name! Now you behave for Isaac and Terra, okay? They're great! So is Aqua, she is super smart and very talented with magic. She will teach you loads of stuff!" Risa explained as she soon let go of his hand and made her way in the direction of the door. She was soon stopped by Ventis again who had taking her arm.

"Where are you going? Aren't you staying?" he asked her, a worried look on his paused to look at him, a small smile on her face.

"I'll be back later to check up on you, okay? I'm not allowed to be here right now or I'll be in big trouble" she tried to explain to him. Ventis nodded as if he understood, pulling her into a hug like she had done to him.

"Be back soon, okay?" he whispered in her ear before pulling away. Risa smiled and touched his cheek lightly before exiting the room and following Xyle back to the kitchens where she met up with Isa and Lea outside.

"What took you so long? We thought you had gotten caught and thrown in the dungeons or something!" Lea said, clearly exaggerating. Risa rolled her eyes playfully and laughed before placing a small kiss on his cheek.

"Come on you two, let's go home" she said as she grabbed both their hands and led them in the direction of their house.

Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, a figure in a red and black outfit stood, wearing a motorcyle helmet. He watched the three friends heading in an unknown direction. Before he could move to follow them, he was stopped by Xehanort who had grabbed him by the shoulder. The figure turned his attention to Xehanort who spoke into his ear.

"Not yet. Soon" he said, "soon everything will come together. We just have to be patient" he told the figure as he turned away, heading int he opposite direction. The figure glanced back in the direction of Risa, Isa and Lea and clenched his fist, before following in the direction that Xehanort had gone.


	3. Chapter 2: Mark of Mastery

Every night, like clockwork, Risa kept her promise to visit Ventis and watched him train under the supervision of Terra and Aqua. A few months had passed since she was face to face with her father again and the thought scared her. Soon would be the Mark of Mastery exams and she had hoped Ventis was ready for it. Risa watched another nightly training session from behind her usual bush, enjoying some Sea Salt Ice cream, when a figure crept up from behind her. Startled, he quickly turned around, dropping her ice cream on the ground and had her Keyblade already in hand. The figure, who turned out to be Isaac, put his hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry I startled you. I just came over to see how you were doing" Isaac explained, laughing nervously. Risa frowned and lowered her Keyblade, it soon disappearing afterwards.

"You know from our childhood what happens when you sneak up on me. Please be more careful, okay?" she said affectionately, placing a gentle hand on his arm, a small smile on her face. Isaac nodded, a small smile forming on his face as he took one of her hands in his own and lifted it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss there.

"I'm sorry, my princess. Please forgive me" he said softly. Risa's smile grew wider and she pulled her hand away and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a tight hug.

"You are so formal, Isaac. You need to lighten up a little!" she teased, pulling away as she pushed him playfully. "I'm not a princess anymore. I gave up that stupid title and all that came with it! You and I are just best friends now, okay?" Risa explained, giving him a wink before turning her attention back to the training fields.

A small blush began forming on Isaac's face at those words. He had always had a fondness for both princesses growing up, but he liked her in particular. Sometimes he feared more than friends, but would never let something like that ruin what they had. Isaac had decided he would push those feelings aside and be more like an older brother figure rather than try to be something more.

"Ventis has been training really hard" he commented, turning his attention back to where he and Terra fought, using their respective Keyblades as Aqua and the two watched on. Risa nodded in agreement and stretched her arms up over her head and yawned softly.

"Yea, I have a good feeling about him passing his Mark of Mastery exam. He's super smart and a very quick learner" she explained, glancing back to Isaac. "He kind of reminds me of you. Always studying and training. Also smart like you too" Risa added, smiling in his direction. Isaac glanced back at her, a small smile on his face.

"Not as smart and you and your sister, though" he chuckled, reaching over to ruffle her hair. Risa rolled her eyes and quickly swatted his hand away playfully. They turned their attention back to the others, noticing they were all leaving now. Risa yawned again and watched them leave, Ventis pausing to look over in their direction. He smiled, knowing they were behind the bushes watching him.

"See you guys later" he said under his breath as he turned away and followed after his friends. Risa and Isaac watched as he left, Risa moving to stand by the ledge of the high platform, staring up at the sky.

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The day of the Mark of Mastery exam had finally arrived and Risa wanted to make sure she was there when Aqua and Terra took their exams. She had found out Ventis was not old enough to take the exam, but was merely helping Terra and Aqua prepare for theirs. Regardless, she wanted to be there for her friends any way she could.

Risa hopped down from the bed and glanced over in Lea's direction. Like always, he was sound asleep and would not wake for anything. Risa rolled her eyes playfully and quickly got dressed, heading in the direction of the kitchen. She paused when she heard talking and quickly hid around the doorway to listen. Risa slowly peered around the corner and noticed a girl sitting at her usual spot, soon realizing it was her sister, Gillian who was talking to Isa as he did the usual breakfast routine.

Risa bit her lip, weighing her options. She could either go in there and finally talk to her sister, or not eat until lunch. Risa sighed and decided on the latter, she would finally talk to her sister again after almost two years of not speaking. She made her way around the doorway and acted like she had not been hiding for the past five minutes and sat down opposite of Gillian, in Isa's usual seat. Gillian glanced up, a look of shock on her face as she realized her sister was there.

"Risa, is that you?" she questioned, tilting her head slightly to the side to examine her sisters new choice of hair color. Risa rolled her eyes, a small grin forming on her face.

"Nah, I'm just the ghost of castle's past" she joked, always having chosen sarcasm as a means to cover up when she was nervous. Gillian rolled her eyes at her sister, pushing her arm playfully.

"You haven't changed, Risa. I'm glad" she said, looking at her sister affectionately. "How have you been? It's been so long" Gillian said, taking a piece of toast from the island counter and bit into it. RIsa shrugged and took an apple, biting into it to give her some time to answer the question.

"Yea, it's been a while. I'm just peachy. How are you?" she asked her sister in return, wanting to avoid talking about her encounter with their father almost two years previous. Gillian smiled and leaned her elbows on the table, putting her head in her hands as she watched Isa cook.

"I'm in love" she cooed, watching Isa who was busy cooking breakfast. Isa turned his attention to them as he gave Gillian a wink before turning back to the pan he was working on. Gillian sighed happily and glanced over at her sister. "How is your man by the way? Is he still sleeping?" she asked. Risa shrugged and tossed the apple she had finished into the trash and stretched.

"He's a growing boy" she said, moving to get up off the stool. "Tell him I love him and I'll see him later. I need to go" Risa said as she walked over to Isa, pecked him on the cheek and made her way over to Gillian and did the same. "Nice seeing you, sis. Come by for dinner later and we can talk more" she said as she rushed out the door, not giving either of them time to respond.

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When she finally got to the castle, she noticed something at the corner of her eye. Risa gasped as she realized who was there and quickly hid behind the nearest bush. She could not believe what she was seeing. Xehanort was making his way into the castle, followed by that mysterious figure she saw a few weeks ago. Risa watched carefully as they entered the castle, the doors soon closing behind them.

When she knew the coast was clear, she made her way to her usual entrance, the servants exit. Risa did her usual knock and the door opened, Leo standing there in the doorway, his usual cigarette in his hand.

"Yea, what you want?" he said , leaning against the doorway to prevent her from passing. Risa rolled her eyes and tried to push past him, but had no luck, instead getting a face full of cigarette. She coughed and moved away from her, waving her hand as if trying to disapate the smoke.

"Can I get in, please? I'm going to be late to see the exams" she said impatiently, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot against the grass.

"Leo, just let her in" a voice came from somewhere behind him. Risa glanced over and saw Isaac standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. Leo shrugged and moved away, tossing his finished cigarette in the grass before wandering off. Isaac watched him leave and shook his head, motioning for Risa to come inside. "I'm sorry about him. You know how he can be" he explained as he ushered her in the closed the door.

"Yea I know all too well" Risa agreed as she followed Isaac to the room where the Mark of Mastery exam was to take place. She soon paused, remembering now what she had seen and wanted to tell Isaac. "Isaac, I saw Xehanort earlier. He was coming into the castle! Do you know anything about this?" Risa asked, a look of concern on her face. Isaac paused, as if in thought. He turned his attention to her, a frown on his face.

"Yea, I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want to upset you. Hes a guest invited by Master Eraqus. I guess he's looking for the next great Keyblade Master or someone to use as one of his new puppets" Isaac said grimly, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, though. Your friends will be fine. I'll have all the guards on duty there in case something happen" Isaac assured her as he led her to the audience chamber.

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Once there, Isaac ushered her into a dark corner so she could watch what was going on, but remain undetected by the others in the room. Terra and Aqua were already there, as well as Ventis, Master Eraqus and someone who she recognized as Xehanort sitting in one of the two thrones on the platform. Risa slowly moved towards one of the pillars to get a better look of what was going on, but staying well hidden. Xehanort glanced over in her direction, knowing full well she was there. He could always feel her presence, but chose to pretend like he didn't know she was there.

After a few short minutes, the exam had finally begun. Master Eraqus raised his Keyblade and balls of light appeared in front of Terra and Aqua. A few moments later, Risa watched as Xehanort raised his hand, a darkness surrounding it as some of the balls of light began shifting into a ball of darkness rather than light. Risa gasped and covered her mouth, deciding whether or not to intervene. She quickly decided against it, as she knew Terra and Aqua could handle this.

Moments later, for what seemed like forever, the exam was finally over. Aqua and Terra stood in front of Master Eraqus again. He told them they had done a great job in their exam, but only Aqua had passed because Terra could not control his "darkness" as Eraqus had put it. Terra nodded his head in respect before storming out of the room.

Risa watched him leave, waiting a few minutes before following him out, making sure not to be found him outside sitting on the bottom of the steps with his face in his hands. She frowned and quietly made her way down to him, taking a seat beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't care what Eraqus says, you did an amazing job" Risa said gently, trying not to startle him. Terra glanced over at her, a small smile forming on his face.

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you" he said to her. "I'll never be as good as you or your sister, though. I have too much darkness inside of me" Terra said as he frowned. Risa rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully.

"Everyone has darkness inside them. I too was like you. I didn't pass my exam either. He said the exact same thing to me" she explained, looking down at her hands. They were soon interrupted by the doors opening, Risa choosing to quickly hide behind the stairs, making sure to be well covered. She listened as she heard Xehanort's voice.

He was talking to Terra and Terra was shouting something about how he had failed to learn something and darkness was nothing to fear. A few moments later, bells began to ring from somewhere in the castle. Risa decided in that moment she would leave, not wanting to get caught by Xehanort. She would continue her conversation with Terra later.

Risa quietly crept away, and headed home, moving as quickly as she could. Once there, she walked in and closed the door firmly behind her as she tried to catch her breath. Lea and Isa sat at the island table, but having turned their attention to her.

"Ris, are you okay?" Lea asked in concern as he jumped down from his stool and made her way over to her. Risa shook her head and slowly slid down the closed door, putting her face in her hands to stop herself from crying.

"I saw my father again. He was trying to mess with my friends. I don't know what to do anymore" she said, her voice breaking. Lea frowned and knelt down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as Isa came to join them.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Your friends can totally kick his butt if they have to" he assured her as he squeezed her shoulder, placing a kiss on the top of her head. Risa looked up at Lea, tears all over her face. She sniffled and wiped them away with the back of her sleeve.

"I got it memorized" she said to him, a small smile forming on her face as she knew that was his famous line. Lea grinned and wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her into a hug, Isa on the other side of them with a smile on his face. They both then helped her up once she had calmed down and brought her to the living room where Gillian was, reading a book titled 'The Art of War.' Gillian glanced up from her book, having already heard what happened in the kitchen.

"They're going to need a lot more help if they want to fight against Father" she said as she placed the book down on the table. "You and I both know how powerful he is. He will not stop until he gets what he wants, even if it means hurting people" Gillian said grimly, moving to stand up from the couch. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go for now. See you guys later" she said as she left.

Risa watched her go, a frown on her face. She knew something was up with her sister, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Risa shook her head and with Isa and Lea's help, sat down on the couch as Lea covered her with her favorite blanket. He then sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders, Isa choosing to sit in his favorite chair beside them.

Risa had a bad feeling something bad was going to happen soon and if she didn't prepare, it would be the end of all of them.


	4. Chapter 3: Got It Memorized?

Risa stood at the window, her usual morning apple in hand. It had been weeks since she'd seen Ventus and the others and she was started to get a bit worried. She still could not shake that feeling that something bad happened to them or was about to happen and she needed to find out what.

Risa was about to turn away from the window when something caught her eye in the distance. She glanced back through the window and saw something strange coming from the Keyblade Graveyard. Dark clouds were forming there and the trees around the house began blowing violently from the wind. Risa dropped her apple and summoned her Keyblade, rushing to the door without a word, not even giving Lea a chance to say anything to her as she ran as quickly as she could in the direction of the Keyblade Graveyard.

Once she arrived, Risa paused for a moment, that bad feeling she had suddenly intensified and almost knocked her off her feet. She reached up to put her hand to her head, trying to stop something that was causing her head to ache as she got closer. Risa gritted her teeth to fight the pain as she shook her head to stop the feeling that was overwhelming her. She opened one eye and glanced out into the distance, a look of shock on her fact at what she saw.

Xehanort stood on the stop of a large stone ledge, above the Keyblade Graveyard, with a figure in suit of armor whom he was holding by the head. Risa squinted to get a better look, soon realizing it was Ventis. She watched in horror as ice began to form all over his helmet and armor, the ice quickly consuming his entire body. Xehanort then tossed Ventis' body down, as if he was just something to be disposed of. Risa quickly rushed forward, now ignoring the pain in her head, afraid for her friends life.

When she got there, Aqua had Ventus in her arms, his body still completely covered in some kind of ice magic. Risa rushed over and knelt down beside them.

"Ventus! Are you alright?!" she exclaimed, putting her hand under his head, the only part that wasn't covered in armor now. Ventus glanced over at her, unable to say a word. Risa frowned and glanced up in the direction of Xehanort who was above them, gritting her teeth in anger.

As she stood up, the ground began to shake slightly, almost knocking her off balance. Xehanort stood with one hand up, a small ball of dark light forming in his hand. It soon shot up from his hand and disappeared into the clouds. Suddenly the clouds began to darken, parting at the center, revealing a moon that was in the shape of a heart.

Somewhere nearby, Terra pulled off his helmet and stood up, glaring up in the direction of where Xehanort stood, accompanied by the masked boy. He gritted his teeth and summoned his bike, quickly rushing up towards them, landing in front of them as his armor dissipated as well as his bike, Terra now being in his regular outfit.

"My friend Ven-you tell me Xehanort, what did you do to him?!" he exclaimed, his hand reaching out to summon his Keyblade, a look of pure anger on his face. Xehanort grinned evilly as put his hands behind his back as if in contemplation.

"Why, I did him a favor and freed the darkness inside him. Alas, poor Ventus never had the fortitude for such strenuous trials" he replied unchalantely. Terra glared as he shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Xehanort!" he growled as he rushed forward in Xehanort's direction. Risa watched the scene before her, knowing she couldn't just sit there and watch. She glanced over at Aqua who looked back at her, a look of concern on her face. Risa frowned and placed a single kiss on Ventus' forehead, whispering something into his ear.

"I'll be back for you" she promised him as she stood up, her grip tightening on her Keyblade. She pointed her Keyblade in the direction of the ground as a light began to emit from it, shooting off somewhere nearby, a motorcycle like vehicle forming from within. Risa quickly hopped on, a suit of armor soon forming around her as she shot up in the direction of where Xehanort and Terra were fighting.

When she got up to them, she quickly hopped off her bike, the helmet from her armor soon fading away, the rest of the armor still remaining. Risa glared angrily, not believing that her father could hurt such an innocent child. She clenched her Keyblade tighter and rushed over in Terra's direction, raising her Keyblade up over her head, as if to strike Xehanort. Her Keyblade was soon met by another, stopping her in her tracks.

Before her stood another figure with the same outfit as the masked boy, but slightly shorter in height and more feminine. The figure quickly pushed her away with their Keyblade, causing her to fall back slightly, but she managed to retain her balance. Risa gritted her teeth and her eyes widened as she looked in the direction of the figure, the figure having removed their helmet, revealing to be Gillian, her sister.

"I can't let you do that, sister" Gillian said, tossing her helmet aside. "I can't let you hurt father" she said, her Keyblade still in hand. Risa straightened herself and stared at her sister in disbelief. She could not believe her sister was on Xehanort's side the entire time. She had always been told growing up that she had a lot of darkness inside her, but now she soon realized, it was in fact her sister who did.

"How could you do this, Gillian? After what father did to us?!" Risa exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. Gillian shrugged and twirled her Keyblade in hand, watching her sister with a look of disgust on her face as she ignored Risa's question.

"You were always the weak one, Risa. No wonder father liked me more" she spat, clearly trying to hurt her sister. Risa glared and held her Keyblade tighter, ready to fight her sister if she had to.

"Move aside, Gillian. This is between him and I. I don't want to hurt you" Risa warned. Gillian rolled her eyes and stopped spinning her Keyblade in her hand, pausing to tighten her grip.

"If you want him, you'll have to go through me first" she said as she rushed forward.

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They fought for what seemed like forever, having ended their fight on the bottom of the ledge where Xehanort still stood, in battle with Terra. Both girls struck at the same time, both their Keyblade's missing each other, as they touched each others chest, knocking each other back. Risa fell onto her back, gasping for air as she was struck down. She slowly sat up and held her chest, watching as Gillian did the same. The look of anger soon fading on both girls, as they saw both of them were bleeding.

"Risa, I am so sorry" Gillian said as she winced in pain, holding her chest as she moved to get closer to her sister. Risa winced in pain and did the same, soon both girls now beside each other. Risa and Gillian locked hands together, tears flowing from both of their eyes.

"It's alright, Gillian. I know this wasn't your fault" Risa said, as more tears flowed down their faces. Isaac appeared behind them as he knelt down beside them, a look of concern on his face.

"What happened?! I heard an explosion so I rushed over here! You guys are bleeding!" he exclaimed, suddenly realizing there was pools of blood forming on the ground from each of them. Risa glanced at Isaac a small smile on her face.

"We're fine Isaac. Please go help Terra and the others, okay? Also tell Lea I love him" she said as she lay back on the ground, staring up at the sky. Risa held onto Gillian's hand still, both girls staring up at the sky as they watched the bright heart shaped moon together. Risa and Gillian glanced over at each other, not saying a word as they both closed their eyes for the last time.

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10 years later...

Two men wandered the streets of the Dark City, having just come back for their mission. They wanted to relax before reporting back to their boss who was always hard on them. One of the figures, reached his hands up over his head, resting his hands on the back of his red mane of hair as he stared up at the dark sky. The other figure brushed the blue strands from his eyes, silently following after his friend.

"Hey, you want to go get some Sea Salt Ice cream, Saix?" the red haired figure said, pausing to look at his friend. Saix glanced over at his friend and rolled his eyes playfully.

"You are so addicted to that stuff. I still don't know why you like it, Axel" he replied, shoving his hands into his pockets, "if you want to go I'll come I guess" Saix said. Axel grinned and rushed forward suddenly, leaving Saix behind. Saix watched his friend rush off and shook his head, following after him at a normal pace.

Axel paused suddenly, feeling a dark chill in the air. He glanced in the direction of the dark alley way where he had stopped, waiting for Saix to catch up. Saix caught up and looked at his friend with a concerned look on his face.

"What is it Axel? he asked, looking in the direction of where Axel was looking. Axel put a finger up to his lips, signalling for his friend to stay quiet as they made their way silently towards the dark alley. Axel paused when he saw two figures leaning against the side of the alleyway, clearly both passed out and they were surrounded by dark creatures who were slowly getting closer to them.

"Heartless!" Axel suddenly shouted as his weapons quickly appeared in his hands, his weapons of choice: two flame chakrams. Before the creatures could react, he tossed both of them, easily disposing of the creatures with one toss. When he was certain he had gotten all of them, his weapons disappeared and her rushed over to the two figures. Saix knelt down beside Axel who was now kneeling down beside them.

"Are they hurt?" he asked. a look of concern on his face. Axel quickly examined them, soon realizing both figures were female and looked familiar to him. He frowned, looking at the figure with orange hair who had her eyes closed and was leaning her head on the girl with dark colored hair, both with intertwined hands.

Axel paused, soon realizing who they were. It was Risa and Gillian. He thought they had died, but now sat in front of him. He touched Risa's cheek softly, tears forming in the corner of his eyes, a look of relief on his face.

"Risa, wake up" he said softly. Risa slowly opened her eyes, a blank look on her face. The usual light in her eyes gone, replaced by a zombie-like look. She glanced in Axel's direction, not saying a word to him, but just stared. Axel frowned and stood up, motioning for Saix to carry Gillian as he helped Risa to her feet. Risa followed him like a zombie, staring at the ground blankly, followed by Saix who had Gillian over his shoulder.

Axel walked inside, his arm around Risa's waist as he paused, deciding he needed to see Xemnas. He led them into the throne room, stopping in the middle of the room. Axel looked up at the tallest chair of the room where Xemnas sat.

"What is the meaning of this, Axel? Who are these two?" Xemnas questioned, soon disappearing from hsi throne in a puff of darkness and appearing in front of them. He quickly examined each girl, faint memories soon appearing in his mind.

Xemnas' face soon turned from a look of anger and confusion to a look of pleasure. "Axel, Saix, bring these two to their rooms" he told them, turning away from them once again. Axel nodded and did as he was told, leading Risa and Gillian out of the room. Axel paused when he heard Xemnas' voice from behind him.

"They are now Rose and Okami from now on" he told Axel before disappearing back to his original spot on his throne. Axel nodded and led them to their respective room, Saix taking Gillian, now Okami, to her room. Axel helped Rose into a similar outfit to his own, a dark jacket with zippers on the front, before helping her into the bed and covered her with a blanket.

"Sleep well, Rose" he whispered before placing a soft kiss on her forehead, turning to lead the room. Axel paused when he heard a voice from behind him and glanced back, Rose now sitting up in the bed.

"I missed you, Lea" she whispered softly. Axel's expression softened as he turned towards her, still in the door way.

"I missed you, too. The names Axel now, okay? Got it memorized?" he told her as he pointed to his head. A small smile formed on her face as she lay back down on the bed, resting her head on her pillow.

"I love you, Axel" she said as her eyes slowly closed again, Rose soon drifting off to sleep. 


	5. Chapter 4: Has It Already Been That Long

A few days had passed before Rose and Okami awoke again, time enough for them to recover from what had happened to them. Rose slowly opened her eyes as she thought of what her father had told her when she was younger. Well, when she was Risa anyways.

She was told when a person dies, if they are of strong heart, their hearts get transferred into a being called a 'Nobody' that looks exactly like them, but only a few memories of their past remained. She glanced around the room, feeling a presence nearby and she glanced in their direction. There sat a figure, holding a book in front of their face. The figure was about five foot in height, slim figured and had a mane of brown hair with bright green eyes and appeared to be female. The figure lowered her book, pushing her glasses up her nose that had slid down.

"Oh good, you're awake! Hi! My name is Rhaenys! But you can call me Rhae for short" the girl told her, extending out a hand to her. Rose sat up, a look of confusion on her face, unsure of what she was suppose to do. Rhae rolled her eyes and took hold of Rose's hand, shaking it firmly in her own. Rose smiled and squeezed her hand gently.

"Im Ris-Rose" she said, biting down on her lip in embarrassment at the mistake. Rhae laughed and pulled her hand away, moving to stand from her chair by the bed, picking up her book what was about to fall from her lap.

"Well, now that you're awake, follow me please" she said as she headed in the direction of the door, her own black coat moving with her. Rose moved to stand up, almost losing her balance, but managed to catch herself on the bed post. She shook her head and then soon carefully followed Rhae out the door and down the hallway.

At the end of the hall, Rhae disappeared into the door, soon followed by Rose, a confused look on her face. She paused as she glanced up, recognizing the room as the room she was brought to when she first got here. It was the throne room where she assumed everyone met up to speak about important things. Rose looked up to the top, noticing the figure she had met a few days previous, leaning against the arm of his chair lazily.

"You are finally, my child. Welcome home!" Xemnas said, his deep voice carrying around the room. Soon after, he disappeared and reappeared in front of her, placing a hand on her cheek. "Oh I have missed you. You have grown up so much" he said affectionately. Rose flinched and took a step back away from him, unsure of who he was.

"Do I know you?" she asked, glancing back in his direction, a look of confusion in her emerald green eyes. Rose stood there for a few moments in silence, trying to figure out where she had seen this man before. After a few minutes, something clicked in the back of her brain, Rose soon realizing who he was. "Father!" she spat, taking a few more steps back. "What have you done to me! Where am I?!" Rose looked around frantically. A gentle hand touched Rose on the shoulder, stopping her panicing as she realized it was Axel. Axel squeezed her shoulder gently, a small smile on his face.

"Forgive her, Lord Xemnas. She has been through quite a lot. Would you like me to escort her back to her room?" he asked, stepping closer to her. Xemnas shook his head and motioned her to come closer.

"That won't be necessary, Axel. She just hasn't seen me in a while that's all" he said as he stepped forward, taking her gently by the arm and both of them disappeared, reappearing in the highest throne in the room. "My child, I would like you to meet everyone. We are called Organization thirteen and you are our ninth member. Please make yourself at him" he said as he motioned to each member, introducing each of them.

There was Xemnas who was the leader, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Saix and of course Axel and now herself to make nine members of the thirteen possible. Rose assumed he hadn't gathered all the members yet, that's why there was many empty seats. Xemnas motioned for Xigbar to move seats as he motioned to her to take his place. Rose frowned and shook her head, clearly not accepting anything from him. Xemnas sighed and waved his hand, Rose appearing in the puff of darkness on the seat he had assigned to her.

"We don't have time for this, my child. We have more important and pressing matters to talk about" he began to explain, turning his attention to the others. "Now, I want each and every one of you to pay attention when you're out on your missions. Do not let Sora see you in any way shape or form. Am I understood?" he told them. The members all looked at each other before nodding in unison, of course excluding Rose who wanted no part in this.

A few minutes later, the meeting was interrupted by two tall cloaked figures, followed by a much shorter figure who had her hood up and her head down, staring at the ground. One of the figures had no hair and had a cigarette sticking out from his mouth, the other, had dark hair and bright blue eyes, tied back into a ponytail. Rose paused for a minute, soon realizing it was Leo and Isaac. She could not believe they were now working for her father.

"Lexon and Cassaix, has my other child woken?" Xemnas questioned, peering down from his throne with interest. They both nodded as Lexon, who Rose soon realized was Leo who she assumed had died during the battle as well somehow, pushed the smaller figure in front of them, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Yep. Here she is. Can we go now?" he asked impatiently, taking another puff of his cigarette before tossing it off in the corner of the room. Xemnas shook his head and turned his attention to the small figure in front of them. The figures hood had fallen, revealing a girl with dark black hair and dual colored eyes. Rose knew at that moment that it was her sister, who once was Gillian, but was now known as Okami.

"Very well. You both can leave now" Xemnas said, ushering him out the door with a hand. Lexon shrugged and turned to leave, but Cassaix paused and glanced up in Rose's direction, watching her carefully as if he wanted her to follow him. He then turned to leave, closing the door behind him. Rose smiled, happy that Isaac, who she now realized was Cassaix, had recognized her, but it saddened her knowing he had died at some point after she had.

"Can I go now?" Rose asked, glancing over at Xemnas. Xemnas glanced in her direction and shook his head, clearly annoyed with her.

"Go then" he told her, motioning a hand as dark mist began to form around her, teleporting her back to the doorway. Rose went to turn towards the door as she heard his voice from behind her. "Axel, teach this girl how to be a proper member of this Organization" he said lazily. Axel nodded and hopped down from his chair, putting a hand on her shoulder as she led her out the door.

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Rose followed beside Axel, glancing up at him occasionally, a small smile on her face. Axel glanced down at her, having a feeling she was looking down on her with a grin on his face. He put his arm arm around her shoulders and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"it's been so boring here without you. Saix was a pain to deal with and you always seemed to put him in his place. I'm glad you're back" he said hugging her closer to him. Rose smiled up at him, pausing when she saw Cassaix motioning for her to come into the room he was in. She glanced in Axel's direction.

"Could you give us a few minutes, dear?" she asked him. Axel nodded and ruffled her hair, motioning for her to go with Cassaix.

"I'll wait for you at the end of the hall in the training room" he told her as he passed by, placing his hands on the back of his head like he always did when they were younger. Rose smiled as she watched him leave, turning to enter the room Cassaix motioned her into. She quickly went inside and closed the door behind her.

Cassaix was now seated next to Lexon, who had his usual cigarette in hand. They were also accompanied by a few other people who she recognized and two she didn't. Rose recognized Rhae from earlier as well as Xyle who had a bit longer hair that covered part of his right eye.

The other two people sat on the opposite side, one of which was seated next to Rhae and had his arm over her shoulders as he read a book, his face mostly covered by his bangs, making him look more mysterious. The other figure, who she assumed was male, sat against the back of the couch, watching her quietly.

"Thank you for coming" Cassaix began, motioning for her to sit down beside him in the middle couch. Rose nodded and made her way over, sitting down beside him as he continued on. "I just wanted to see how you were doing and introduce you to some of these people. So I know you know Xyle, Lexon and you met Rhae. This is Zexion the one who's reading, next to him is Raxyn. That's pretty much it" Cassaix concluded, smiling in her direction.

Rose glanced around the room at all the people, a large smile on her face. She could not believe how large her group of friends had grown since she had come back. it made her so happy knowing she was not alone in this place she had never been before.

"So, how long was I dead?" Rose said bluntly, turning her attention to Cassaix. Cassaix's face soon turned red at the question, the questioning feeling slightly uncomfortable for him. He normally would have avoided the question, but he knew he had to tell her the truth.

"You died ten years ago, Rose" he told her, wringing his hands together in discomfort, "As far as I know, most of us died and came back as Nobody's" Cassaix explained, glancing back in her direction. Rose paused in shock, not believing what she was hearing. She had been dead for ten years and somehow brought back as a Nobody. She sat there, trying to digest the information as Lexon spoke up.

"There is one thing I'm wondering about, though. Xyle is the only one who hasn't had a name change out of all of us" he pointed out before lighting another cigarette, taking a puff before continuing, "What happened to him when everything was going down?" he questioned. Everyone's attention soon turned to Xyle, who sank back in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with everyone staring at him.

"I-Uh, I managed to leave before everything happened" he tried to explain, laughing nervously. Rose laughed and rolled her eyes playfully, leaning over to push his arm.

"Let's stop teasing him. I'm sure he wasn't up to anything at all. I believe him" she said, sitting back against the couch. Xyle smiled, sighing in relief. He was glad she had moved away from the subject, not wanting to draw suspicion to himself.

Xyle had in fact escaped the explosions, but with the help of Xehanort's dark magic. He was sent to a place called Destiny Islands where had met up with him after the battle and that is when they had decided to form the organization, now known as Organization Thirteen.

While everyone was distracted, Xyle quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him gently. He made sure no one was around before he pulled his hood up, concealing his face as he made his way towards the throne room. Once inside, he closed the door behind him, thankful Xemnas was the only person there now. Xyle pulled his hood down and stood in front of Xemnas who was in his usual spot.

"Do they suspect anything, Xyle?" Xemnas asked, tapping his fingers against his throne impatiently. Xyle shrugged and looked around the room, deciding on how he was going to answer the question.

"I mean, they suspect something is up, but I don't know what they think they know" he explained, laughing nervously. Xemnas sat up in hsi thrown, watching Xyle with interest.

"Make sure to be more careful. We don't want them to know of our plans" he said, motioning him towards the door with his hand. "Now leave before you arouse any more suspicion" he said as he turned away from Xyle. Xyle nodded and turned to leave, being sure to pull his hood back up before he left out the door.

Somewhere nearby, Axel watched quietly from the darkness, not believing what he had heard. He decided to keep this to himself for now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to let everyone know what was going on.


	6. Chapter 5: First Mission

Over the next few weeks, Axel and the other members of the Organization helped Rose and her sister Okami regain their memories and helped them learn new skills. Axel had taught them how to teleport and how to summon a new weapon in case they were without their Keyblades. Xemnas wanted to make sure they didn't rely on them and were left without anything to defend themselves.

Rose, who had taken much influence from Laurium, a friend she had met when she was younger, chose to use a scythe like he did. She loved how it flowed around her and how easily she could manipulate it around her. Rose had also gained a technique that allowed her to summon rose petals, using them to either blind or distract her opponent. When she used this technique, there were always roses left over from their training sessions that sometimes annoyed the others, but made her secretly laugh.

Okami chose a simple weapon called a kama, which were basically curved daggers that she used to pin her opponents down before she attacked with her Keyblade or allowed anyone with her to have an advantage. She also sometimes used her weapons, which she coated in darkness to blind her opponents before she attacked.

Axel stood back and watched the two spar, an amused look on his face. He had heard what had happened to them ten years ago and he was glad they had forgiven each other. He knew how much they cared for one another and thought it was best to have them work together constantly to restrengthen their bond.

As Axel watched them fight, a figure who had their hood up, appeared beside Axel, accompanied by another figure who Axel knew was Xyle. Xyle cleared his throat as he pulled the hood down, his dark blue hair falling from the hood.

"You haven't said anything to anyone have you?" he questioned, glancing towards the other figure who had moved closer to Axel. Axel glanced back at him and rolled his eyes. He moved his hand to the side, making sure to be ready to summon his chakrams if they chose to start a fight.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? I'd very much like to stay alive to any day marry Rose. So I won't be telling anyone anything anytime soon" he assured Xyle. The other figure reached up to pull his hood down, their long brown hair falling over their shoulders. The figure was in fact male and wore glasses with brown eyes. He was approximately six feet tall and wore the same outfit as the others, the usual leather Organization jacket.

"I mean, I'm sure if you wanted to you could probably tell someone and we would never really know about it" the figure said, a faint British accent escaping his lips. He gently brushed his hair from his face, pushing his glasses back to their proper place, "Can we go now? I'm kind of bored." Xyle shook his head an sighed, glancing back once more in Axel's direction.

"Xathoms and I will be watching you" he warned as he turned to leave with his friend in tow. Axel rolled his eyes and noticed that Okami and Rose had stopped fighting and were both now staring at him. Axel rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"Don't worry, girls. It was nothing important" he assured them. Rose and Okami glanced at each other for a moment, both shrugging in unison as they turned back towards each other, readying their fight stances. Axel watched them and smiled, happy with the progress they had made in the past few weeks. He was thankful they were quick learners so he would not have to deal with Xemnas if they weren't progressing the way he had liked.

Axel paused for a moment, before disappearing for a moment and soon reappeared with three Popsicle's in his hand. He made his way over to where Okami and Rose were, both stopping to see what he was doing.

"Here, you guys need a break. I brought you guys something to cool off" he said, offering each of them a Popsicle. Rose took one of them from his and examined it, a confused look on her face. She thought for a moment and suddenly remembered what it was. It was Sea Salt Ice Cream she use to eat back when she was at the castle. Rose grinned and thanked him before taking a bite, walking over to the couch she had brought in there and sat down.

"Mmm, I haven't had one of these in such a long time. Thanks, sweetie!" she said as she bit down into it, Axel moving to sit beside her and bit down on his own. Okami stood there, still staring at the ice cream, unsure of what to do with it.

"Is this...blueberry flavored?" she asked, looking back at them. Axel and Rose looked at each other in confusion and shook their heads.

"It's basically a salted vanilla" Rose explained to her, leaning back against the couch. Okami nodded and took a bite of it, her face contorting for a moment at the sudden surge of saltiness before the vanilla taste hit her mouth.

"Oh, man! That's really salty! But also sweet...I'm not sure how I feel about it" she said as she walked over, sitting down beside Rose who had already finished half her ice cream. Okami glanced up at the ceiling, a figure appearing above her and placing a kiss on her lips. She practically jumped, but soon realized it was Saix. Okami smiled and put a hand on his cheek and quickly kissed him back, not liking to show public displays of affection that often.

"Get a room you two" Axel teased from beside Rose. Rose covered her mouth to stop from laughing, a soft giggle escaping her lips. Axel grinned and put an arm around her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "You are so adorable when you do that" he whispered in her ear. Rose began to blush, moving away from him slightly.

"I am not, Axel!" she pouted, trying to push him away playfully, as she tried to hide her grin. Axel then grabbed her and pulled her closer, his lips closer to hers, causing her blush to worsen at the proximity.

"You know you won't win in this fight. You got it memorized?" he said as he brushed his lips gently against hers, enough to send shivers down her spine as he stood up, making his way to the door. "We have to report to Xemnas, come on girl" Axel said as he disappeared through the door. Rose and Okami glanced at each other, shrugging as they stood up. Okami took Saix by the hand and led him with them to the throne room.

When they got there, everyone from the organization was gathered there. Rose knew very well at this point, when everyone was there, there was an important mission Xemnas was about to give. She didn't mind the missions, though. Having missions meant she didn't have to be around her father that often which suited her just fine. Rose snapped her fingers and disappeared, reappearing in her seat beside her father. She didn't much like it, but she liked to feel like she had some power around here. Okami soon appeared beside her, linking arms with her as Rose smiled in her direction.

Okami knew she didn't like her father much, but Okami was always there for her when he was near. Xemnas glanced around the room as he waited for everyone to be quiet before he spoke, moving his hands in front of his face in a sort of contemplation sort of pose.

"Thank you all for coming" he said, his deep voice carrying around the room, "As all of you must know by now, there is a new enemy we have encountered. We have a new Keyblade Master to deal with now alongside the Heartless. I need two among you to go and get as much information as you can about him. Take as long as you need." Xemnas finished, looking around the room once more. A few people moved uneasily in their seats, but no one said a word. Rose glanced around the room, noticing no one had said anything.

"I'll do" she began to say, noticing that Axel had said it as the same time as her. Xemnas glanced at both of them and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. You cannot both go on this mission as I know how both of you lack self control. Only one of you may go. I will let you decide amongst yourselves" he explained, watching their reactions. Rose glanced over at Axel, a frown on her face.

"Well, I don't want Axel to get hurt. I'll go, father" she said. Axel looked at her, a shocked expression on his face.

"I can't let you do that, Rose. You know how dangerous Heartless can be" he said, gripping the side of his chair. Rose rolled her eyes and sat back against the chair.

"Well I'm sure it's my decision to make, so I've decided I'm going. I can take care of myself, sweetheart" she said, her tone softening as she spoke. Axel sighed and shook his head, leaning back against his chair without a word. He knew arguing with her would do nothing to help his case so he chose to stay quiet. Xemnas nodded in Rose's direction, pleased that she had chosen to go. That was his plan all along so he was grateful everything was going according to plan.

"Very well. I will need someone to accompany you" he began as Lexon raised his hand, signalling the attention towards him.

"I'll go with her, boss" he said, leaning against his chair as he smoked his usual cigarette. Xemnas nodded, very much enjoying that he did not have to chose himself.

"Very well. Your mission will start tonight. Please gather what you will need and prepare yourselves. Meet me back here tonight for your details. Everyone is dismissed" Xemnas said as he waved a hand in dismissal. Everyone soon started filing out of the room, excluding Xyle and Xathoms who stood back to talk to Xemnas.

"Do you want us to keep an eye on them?" Xyle asked, glancing in the direction of his companion. Xemnas contemplated for a moment before answering.

"No, I think we will let them be for a while. I'm sure Lexon will keep my child in her place" he assured them. Xyle nodded and motioned for Xathoms to follow him with the motion of his head. Xathoms nodded and followed after him, both boys disappearing within their own dark portals.

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Night soon fell and Rose sat up from her spot on the couch where she had been laying with her head on Axel's lap. They had talked for hours, mostly Axel trying to convince her not to go, but he knew after a while he wouldn't be changing her mind anytime soon. Instead, they sat in silence, enjoying each others company as Axel played with her hair.

"I'm going to miss you, you know" he said softly as Rose stood up. Rose turned to him, a small smiled on her face.

"Nothing is stopping you from coming to visit" she teased, leaning over to give him a small kiss on the lips. "I mean, father didn't say you couldn't visit. He just said you can't come on the mission with me" she said as she winked, moving to give her sister a hug that was seated on the other couch with Saix. Okami hugged her sister back, pulling her down between her and Saix.

"You better be freaking careful, okay? I don't want you dying again on me" she warned, a large grin on her face. Saix chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"I trust her. I see how she fights. She's kicked my butt a few times so a couple of Heartless will be nothing to her" he assured Okami. Okami sighed and rubbed her eyes, trying not to cry. Rose frowned and hugged her sister again, placing a kiss on her head.

"Don't cry, Kami. I'll be back soon, okay?" I love you sis" she said as she squeezed her once again. Okami looked at her sister, her eyes slightly rimmed with red as she moved closer to her sister, Axel coming to join them in a group hug. Rose smiled and sat there, enjoying the affection.

After a few minutes, everyone parted ways and Rose stood, glancing back at her sister and Saix, before heading towards the door with Axel. Rose paused and turned her attention to him, taking his hands in her own.

"You need to stay here, Axel. We don't want him suspecting anything, okay?" she asked, looking him in the eyes. Axel sighed and glanced away for a moment, trying to regain his composure before looking at her again.

"Alright. Just be safe out there, okay?" he said as he pulled her into a tight hug, tilting her head upwards so he could place a kiss on her lips before he let her go. Rose pulled away from him a few moments later, looking back at them as she disappeared out of the room.

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As she walked down the long hallway towards the throne room, Rose thought about all her friends who she would not see for a while and wondered if she should have sent someone else instead. She decided she would miss them, but wanted to get out of this more and did not want to put her friends in danger. Rose paused when she saw Xyle and Xathoms standing on each side of the door.

"Hey guys, hows it going?" she asked, a smile on her face. Xathoms nodded in her direction as Xyle pushed away from his spot on the wall, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, a smile on his face.

"I'm doing well. I'm proud of you, though. You're very brave taking on this important mission. You've come very far from when you were younger" he said. Rose smiled and hugged her old friend gently, pulling away after a few minutes.

"Thank you, Xyle. That means a lot to me" she said as she turned her attention to Xathoms. "And nice seeing you again, old friend." A small smile formed on his lips, but he did not move or say anthing, but simply nodded in acknowledgement. Rose pulled away from Xyle, making her way back to the door. She opened it slowly, glancing around the room. The room was completely empty except for Lexon and Xemnas who stood in the middle of the room.

"Nice of you to join us, my child" Xemnas spoke, motioning for her to step forward. Rose made a face before closing the door behind her. She made her way over to them, stopping to stand beside Lexon. Lexon glanced down at her, reaching to ruffle her hair.

"Nice of you to join us, kid" he said, pulling his hand away to reach into his pocket for another cigarette. Rose rolled her eyes as she fixed her hair, reaching over to pluck the pack of cigarette's out of his hand and chucking it.

"No smoking on this mission. That is my only request" she said, glaring at him. Lexon chuckled and shrugged.

"That's fine" he said in agreement, putting his hands in his pockets. Xemnas watched the both of them, an amused look on his face.

"Once you two are done, I'd like to tell you about your mission" he began, waiting for them to stop talking before he continued. "Your mission is to watch over a child named Sora. He is a very big threat to our organization and we can't have him stopping our plans" Xemnas explained, glancing in Rose's direction, daring her to say something. Rose sighed and looked away. She knew nothing she would say would change the fact her father did as he pleased so she chose to keep her mouth shut for once.

"How long is this mission going to last?" Lexon questioned, turning Rose's face back towards Xemnas, making sure she paid attention. Rose rolled her eyes at Lexon and waited for Xemnas to continue.

"Your mission will last as long as we need. We cannot have him messing with our plans. You two will be living on the island called Destiny Islands where you will be father and daughter. You have just moved there. Rose, I want you to make friends with Sora and get close to him" he said. Rose frowned, biting her lip to stop herself from saying something she'll regret.

"Yes, father" she said quietly, biting her lip so hard she could start to taste blood. Xemnas nodded and waved his hand, a dark portal appearing in front of the two. Without a word, Lexon put a hand on her back, leading her through the portal as it disappeared behind them.

Xemnas sighed and rubbed his face in annoyance, not believing he had to deal with all of this again after so many years. He glanced up as the door opened and Axel appeared in the doorway, closing the door behind him.

"What is it, Axel?" he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Axel frowned and debated whether or not to say what he wanted to. He decided against is as he moved away from the door, taking a seat on his usual throne.

"You know I'm not one to question you, but are you sure she's ready for this? This kid can potentially be very dangerous" he said, bracing himself for the potential outburst from Xemnas. Xemnas frowned, contemplating his question for a moment.

"Do you doubt your ability to teach, Axel? I know very well you are an amazing tutor. You have trained most of my men and women. Why doubt yourself now?" he asked, moving in Axel's direction. Axel shrugged and leaned back against his chair lazily, tracing his finger along the design of the arm of the chair.

"I just have a bad feeling that's all. Sorry for doubting you Lord Xemnas" he said, pausing for his reaction. Xemnas stopped in front of Axel, reaching up to touch his cheek gently. Axel flinched, expecting a backhand, but none came. Axel glanced back at him, watching to see what he would do.

"No need to apologize. Now, I have a special mission for you" he told Axel as he removed his hand, heading in the direction of the door. Axel soon followed after him, following him out of the door and down the hall. He glanced back, noticing both Xyle and Xathoms following behind them. Axel had a feeling something was going to happen to him.


	7. Chapter 6: Meeting the Crew

Lexon and Rose stepped out of the portal, both pausing the admire the scene around therm. When they stepped out, they were taken to a bright and sunny island, surrounded by sandy beaches and beautiful tall palm trees. Rose shielded her eyes from the sun, Lexon grunting in annoyance as he searched his pockets for his pack of cigarettes, forgetting that they had been taken by Rose before they left. He sighed and shook his head, looking in Rose's direction.

"Come on, kid. We need to get out of these clothes before anyone sees us" he told her as he turned around, making his way up the path behind them. Rose nodded and went to turn away, something in the distance catching her attention. There in the distance, on the beach close the the water, two boys were fighting with wooden swords. One boy was about her height, appearing around the age of fourteen or fifteen and had short spiked brown hair and bright blue eyes.

The other boy, much taller than the other, silver hair tinted with purple just barely touching his shoulders and had ocean blue eyes. Rose watched them with interest for a few moments, debating whether or not to ignore Lexon, but decided against it as she did not want him reporting back to her father and be stuck with him again. Rose sighed and turned away, starting to follow behind Lexon who was already halfway up the path. She would go meet them later when she was in more common clothing.

When Rose finally got to the top of the mountain, Lexon was nowhere in sight. She glanced around, pausing at the bottom of the steps. She wondered if he had left her or maybe she went to the wrong place. A voice from the open doorway interrupted her thoughts.

"Are you coming, girl?" Lexon said, poking his head out from the doorway, "or do I have to come and get ya?" he said, a hint of impatience in his voice. Rose rolled her eyes and made her way up the steps to the porch, walking in through the doorway as Lexon closed the door behind her. Rose glanced around the room she had just entered, taking in the room. Rose was clearly inside the living room as there were two couches, a television and a coffee table. To her surprise, the room was not the usual white she was use to. Rose was use to everything white with the exception of one room that had red couches.

This room however, was decorated with blue couches, dark wood flooring, light gray colored walls and the coffee table was a chestnut color with a glass tabletop. She slowly made her way through the living room, to the next room over, Rose soon realizing it was the kitchen area. The floor was similar to the living space, but in the middle of the kitchen there was an island seating area, the top made of marble that sat four stools covered in red leather. Rose marveled the room as she went to touch the stainless steel fridge, a voice from behind her interrupting her thoughts.

"I designed the room myself" the voice said. Rose practically jumped five feet in the air as she whipped around, coming face to face (well, as close as she could to coming face to face) with Casaix. Rose sighed in relief, putting her hand on her chest to slow her breathing.

"Casaix! Don't sneak up on me like that!" she chastised him, her face softening when she looked up at him. Casaix chuckled in amusement and brushed a strand of hair aside that had fallen in front of her face and tucked it behind her ear like he always did when they were younger.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just came to see how you're settling in. Though, I see you just got here" he said, chuckling nervously in embarrassment. Rose smiled and took his hand he had used to brush her hair aside and held it in her own smaller two.

"Thank you for your concern. I promise you I'm going to be fine and I won't get into any trouble" she assured him. "I don't want to go back to that horrible place anytime soon" Rose told him, her face hardening at the thought. Casaix pulled his hand away as he stepped closer to her as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a gentle hug.

"I'm glad to hear that, but the place would not be the same without you" he said, a hint of sadness in his face. Rose looked up at him, her chin resting against his chest as she looked into his eyes.

"I know, but you need I have a need to protect people. I don't want this Sora getting hurt over some stupid plans my father has. I'm sure he just wants peace in the world like I do" Rose explained, watching him carefully. Casaix moved to pull away, touching her cheek gently as he turned away, a voice nearby interrupting their moment.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were trying to take her from me, Casaix" the voice said. Rose glanced in the direction of the voice, the figure coming out from the shadows. There stood Axel, arms crossed over his chest. A normal person would assume he was upset, but a grin on his face told them otherwise as he watched them, an amused look on his face.

"Axel" Rose said softly, unsure of how she should react to seeing him here. She glanced around the room, looking to see where Lexon had gone. Rose didn't want him finding out Axel was here and reporting back to Xemnas and having been sent back.

"Lexon is gone if that's what you're worried about" Axel assured her, taking a step in her direction as he lowered his arms, extending them out in her direction. "Now, are you going to just stand there or are you going to come say hi to me" he said, an amused tone in his voice as he watched her, his bright emerald eyes shining. Rose paused for a moment before rushing over to close the gap between them, practically launching herself at him and she hugged him tightly, almost knocking him off his feet with the force.

"Oh, Axel! I'm so sorry. I swear there is nothing going on between us. You know I love you!" she said, her eyes filling with tears as she looked up at him. Axel watched her, a look of shock on his face. He did not expect this kind of reaction to the joke he had made.

"Sweetie, it was a joke. I know you would never do something like that. Just calm down, okay? I love you too. Got it memorized?" he said, his usual saying slipping from his lips. Rose sniffled and nodded, pulling away from him as she wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

"I'm sorry. I'm too emotional for my own good" she chuckled as she turned her attention back to Casaix, who was no longer there. Rose lowered her arm slowly, hoping she had not upset him somehow by turning her attention away from him for a brief moment after what he had done for her with this house.

"I'm not mad or upset at you" Cassaix said, coming out from one of the rooms, "I just wanted to make sure your room was ready for you, princess" he said affectionately. Rose cringed at the word princess, hating being called that, reminding her of her prison when she was with Ansem, never allowed to leave the castle because he feared Xehanort would kidnap her if she did. Rose rolled her eyes at the thought, finding it ironic how what he protected her from ended up happening anyways despite his efforts to keep her 'safe.'

"I'm glad" Rose replied, taking Axel's hand as she walked over to the bedroom Casaix was standing in the doorway of. She slowly peered around him and looked inside, shocked at what she saw. Instead of her usual completely white room like she was use to, the room was decorated in all dark oak wood furniture, the walls painted her favorite shade of light purple and her bed has red sheets paired with a black blanket.

"Now this is my favorite room. I actually designed this one" Axel said from behind her, resting his chin on the top of her head, taking in the room with a grin on his face. Rose glanced up at him, a smile on her face.

"It's great to know you actually pay attention when I talk sometimes" she joked teasingly, pulling away from them as she entered the room, making her way over to the bed. Rose paused in front of it, slowly taking off her shoes as she climbed onto the bed, immediately sinking into the extremely soft mattress. She sighed happily and lay back against the bed, staring up at the red canopy.

This was her favorite kind of bed as it offered privacy by being able to close the curtains completely around it. Rose suddenly blushed a bright red, one single thought crossing her mind as she quickly stood up from the bed, glaring over in Axel's direction. Axel put his hands up innocently, whistling as he looked away from her. Casaix watched them with amusement, cleatly oblivious of what was going on.

"I obviously missed something. I'm going to leave you two alone now" he said as he turned on his heels and disappeared down the watched him leave, the bright red blush still on her face. She was very embarrassed at the thought that had crossed her mind, silently cursing Axel for putting the idea in her head.

"You do realize I'm never going to be able to sleep in here, right? And it's totally your fault" she said, her blush slowly fading from her cheeks. Axel glanced back at her, a look of innocence on his face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, sweetie. This is a great room" he said, taking a step in her direction, a grin forming on his face. Rose took a step back as he took a step forward, watching him careful as she bumped against the bed that was behind her, catching herself before she fell back.

"Stay where you are, Axel. I know what you're up to" she said, watching him as he continued to move in her direction. Axel's grin spread wider as he stopped in front of her, placing each hand on her hips, pulling her closer to him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he whispered, leaning his face close to hers. "Am I making you uncomfortable? If so I'll stop" Axel breathed, his lips inches from hers. They were soon interrupted by Casaix who had reappeared in the doorway.

"I hate to interrupt, but Lexon is back. I would suggest you leave Axel before he finds you here" he warned. Axel sighed, a small pout on his face as he quickly pecked her lips before pulling away.

"I can never have any fun" he muttered as he pulled away, pulling his hood up over his head. "I'll see you later, sweetie" Axel said as he disappeared through the dark portal he had created. Not long after, Lexon appeared in the doorway, glancing around the room.

"I heard voices. Were you talking to someone?" he said, his eyes stopping on her. Rose shook her head and stretched her arms up over her head.

"Nope, I just turned on the radio for a bit that's all" she assured him, hoping he bought her lie. Lexon shrugged and turned away from her.

"Whatever you say. I know Axel was here. I'll keep it to myself if you let me have my cigarettes" he said, looking back in her direction. Rose glared at him, not believing he was actually using blackmail against her for an addiction. She sighed softly as she sunk onto her bed, watching him.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't smoke in the house" she said as she pulled the pack of cigarettes that she had confiscated from him earlier from her pocket and tossed it in his direction. Lexon caught the back and nodded to her in thanks, disappearing through the door. Rose huffed and stood up, making her way over to the closet to find something to change into.

She had decided on a dark blue sundress that had a pink bow on the back of it. Rose suddenly kind of missed the nice dresses she use to wear in the castle. They were girly, but she had picked them out with the help of her sister. Rose stared down sadly at the dress as she thought of her sister who was stuck with their father still. Rose hoped she was okay and would make a note to ask Axel or Casaix to watch over her when she saw them again.

Rose unzipped her jacket and tossed it on the bed, glad she was finally able to breathe as she pulled off the rest of her clothing except her undergarments and pulled the dress over her head. She then stood in front of the mirror and admired herself as she tied the bow.

"This isn't that bad" she said to herself in the mirror, turning the look at the back. Once she was done admiring herself, she slipped on a pair of sandals and made her way to the door. Rose paused at the front door as she opened it, Lexon's voice coming from around the corner of the porch.

"Where do you think you're going?" he said, taking a puff of his cigarette. Rose rolled her eyes and closed the door behind her.

"I'm going out. I'll be back before dark, okay? Father said I was suppose to make friends with 'Sora' so I'm going to find him. Is there anything else you want to know?" she said in irritation, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her sandled foot impatiently. Lexon shrugged and leaned back against his rocking chair, taking another drag of his cigarette, his usual coffee in his right hand.

"That's fine. I just wanted to know where you are in case I had to find you" he said, taking a sip of his coffee. Rose rolled her eyes again in annoyance as she unfolded her arms and headed down the steps.

"I'll see you tonight Lexon" she said as she made her way down the path in the direction of the beach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose paused at the end of the path, glancing around the corner of the large boulder she had stopped in front of. To her disbelief, the two boys who were on the beach were no longer there anymore. She sighed and turned to head back to the house, a figure stopping in front of her and made her jump five feet. The figure, who was in fact female was similar to her height, but she had red hair that barely touched her shoulders, bright blue eyes and wore a white tank top with a light purple skirt.

"Who ya looking for?" the girl said, watching her with amusement, her hands behind her back. Rose flushed in embarrassment as she glanced away from her.

"Oh, uh, no one in particular" she said, looking back at the girl. The girl grinned and held out a hand to her.

"Well, my name is Kairi! You must be new because I've never seen you here before" Kairi said. Rose slowly took her hand in her own and shook her hand gently.

"I'm Rose. Yea, I just moved in with my uncle Leo. Nice to meet you, Kairi" she said, a small smile on her face. Kairi grinned, but didn't pull her hand away. Instead she held on to Rose's hand, pulling her in the direction of an island she hadn't noticed.

"Come on! I want you to meet the guys. We don't see many people around here so I'm sure they would love to meet you!" she said as she led Rose by the hand. Rose followed after her, silently glad she found someone who could bring her to the two boys she had seen. Rose had hoped one of them was Sora so she could find out more about him and protect him from whatever her father had planned for him. She knew if he found out he would be furious, but she didn't care. Rose didn't believe in hurting people for no reason for the sake of evil.

A few minutes later, Kairi paused in front of the two boys, both sitting on what appeared to be a fallen palm tree. They both glanced in Kairi and Rose's direction, curious looks on their faces. The boy with the spiky brown hair spoke first, a grin spreading across his face.

"Kairi! Who is this? I haven't seen her around before" the boy said, hopping down from his seat and examined her. "Hi! My name is Sora, what's yours?" Sora said, extending a hand out like Kairi had done. Rose paused, something in the back of her mind clicking when he said his name. This was the boy she was looking for. She smiled and took his hand in her own, shaking his hand firmly.

"Hi, Sora! My name is Rose" she said, a large grin on her face now. Sora grinned back at her and motioned his head in the direction of the other boy who was still staring off into the distance, not even acknowledging her presence.

"That's Riku. He's not much of a talker" Sora said, rolling his eyes playfully. Riku glanced over in there direction, pausing his gaze on Rose. Rose glanced back at Riku as their eyes met, a feeling slowly creeping up on them as they both quickly glanced away from each other. She had never felt that feeling before besides when she first met Lea, she didn't realize she could have it again with someone else.

Rose felt bad for even thinking about doing that to Axel, but she knew the heart wanted what the heart wanted. In her heart she knew she loved Axel and wanted to marry him one day, but knew the heart did what it wanted to no matter how she felt. She then glanced back at Riku, who was now looking at her again, but was now in front of her.

"Nice to meet you, Rose" he said, extending a hand to her. Rose looked at his hand and then back as him as she shook his hand gently. Riku's mouth formed into a small and they shook hands for a moment, before they pulled away from each other. "Why haven't I see you here before? Did you just move here?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in curiousity Rose nodded and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her head.

"Yea, I just moved here with my uncle Leo. I just came down to the beach to enjoy some sunshine. What do you guys do for fun around here?" she questioned, looking around. Riku shrugged and sat back in his spot, patting the spot beside him.

"Pretty much this and we play fight with wooden swords sometimes. Though, we're planning on building a raft to get off this island. We hear there's different worlds other than t his" he explain, looking somewhere off in the distance. Rose glanced in the direction her was looking, a look of hope in her eyes. Maybe she could bring Sora somewhere where her dad and the other members couldn't find him and would be able to protect him easier.

"I'm totally in to help" she said, a large grin spreading across her face. "Where do we start?" Rose questioned, glancing back in Riku's direction. Riku looked at her, a determined look on his face.

"Well, we have most of the materials already. We just have to build the raft and get the food for travel" he explained, hopping down from his spot once again. "Come on, we'll show you" he said as he walked past her, taking her hand as he went. Rose glanced over at Sora and Kairi, Sora moving to follow after them, but Kairi chose to stay back. Rose shrugged and followed after Sora and Riku, stopping when they got to where the raft was going to be built.

"This is going to be great! We'll have one more person with us on our journey. I'm super excited!" Sora exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Rose watched Sora with amusement, laughing softly. She could not believe her father would want to hurt someone such pure of heart.

Rose rolled her eyes, soon realizing what he was up to. He wanted to corrupt Sora's heart so he could control him for whatever other plans she had for him. She would make it her goal in life to stop this of course. She sat down in the sad and watched the two boys start to build the raft, using rope to hold the raft pieces together. Rose watched them quietly as she rested her chin against her knees, a wave of exhaustion suddenly hitting her. She slowly closed her eyes for a moment, soon falling asleep.

Rose awoke a few hours later, both Sora and Riku kneeling on either side of her. She glanced at both of them, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean to fall asleep" she said sleepily. Riku chuckled to himself and held out a hand to her. Rose took his hand and pulled herself up, now noticing the sun was setting around them. She also noticed that the raft had been finished, which meant she was out for quite some time.

"It's fine. We didn't want to wake you! You really really tired" Sora said, his typical grin on his face. Rose smiled and let go of Riku's hand, stretching her arms up over her head. She then suddenly felt her stomach rumble, feeling as if it was so loud the other two could hear it. Sora and Riku both looked at each other, clearly having heard it. They both burst out laughing as Rose's cheeks turned bright red. Riku held out a hand to her again, motioning for her to follow him.

"Come, we'll take you to get something to eat" he said, not waiting for her to take his hand as he led her towards the central part of the island. There, in the grassy part of the island, stood a sort of cabana where Kairi was sitting, accompanied by who she realized was Lexon who sat leaning against the bar, a drink in his hand. Rose frowned as he glanced over at her, a grin spreading across his face. She now knew that he was here to make sure she didn't try anything.

"Hello my beautiful niece! Come join us" he said, motioning for her to come over. Rose rolled her eyes and followed after Riku who led her over to where Kairi sat. Riku helped her into the seat between Kairi and Lexon and he sat down on the opposite side of Kairi while Sora sat beside Lexon. "Ah, you must be Sora who everyone's taking about" Lexon said, turning so he was facing Sora. Sora grinned and nodded, holding out a hand politely.

"Nice to meet you, sir! I am Sora and I'm glad I got a chance to meet you! Your niee is really great" he said, complementing her. Rose's cheek flushed red again at the compliment as she glanced away. Lexon chuckled and took Sora's hand, shaking it firmly.

"The please is all mine. I can assure you" he said, pulling his hand away from Sora as he glanced over at Rose. Rose glanced back at Lexon, daring him to try anything. Lexon shrugged and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, jumping off his stool and walked past Rose, whispering in her direction. "I'm watching you, child" he muttered as he passed, heaving in the direction of the ocean line.

Rose watched him leave and sighed, turning to the bar. The man behind the bar turned to her, placing a drink in front of her. She glanced up at the man who ran the shack and soon realized it was not a man, but Rae standing there with a smile on her face. Rose sat there shocked for a moment, soon snapping out of it.

"Oh, hey Rae" she said shyly, clearly embarrassed. Rae smiled and leaned against the counter, pushing her glassed up the bridge of her nose where they had slid down.

"Hi, Rose" she whispered so the others couldn't overhear their conversation. "Don't worry, I'm not here to spy on you or try to stop you. I'm here for suppose" Rae assured her as she moved away again, turning back to what she was working on. Rose sighed in relief and lifted the drink to her lips, taking a small sip. It tasted like Sea Salt Ice Cream, but in liquid form. She smiled to herself, a sudden memory of when she first met Axel as Lea and they shared their first ice cream together.

"Thinking about me again?" a voice whispered from nearby. Rose jumped a little, a few drops her of drink spilling om the top of the bar. Rose turned, now face to face with Axel, his usual grin on his face. "You got me memorized, huh?" he said, leaning to kiss her on the cheek. Rose blushed and glanced around, realizing it was as if time had stopped. No one else was moving but her and him.

"How did you do that?" she questioned, looking back at him. Axel shrugged and leaned up against the bar, taking the drink from her hand as he took a sip.

"Some call it magic. Casaix taught me that trick so I can visit you more often without being noticed" he explained, handing her drink back to her. "Though, he said not to do it too often or it might disrupt time or something" Axel said, shaking his hand dismissively. Rose smiled and sat her drink down, leaning towards Axel to whisper in his ear.

"Well I'm glad you're here. I think Lexon is catching on to my plan. What do you think I should do?" she asked him. Axel looked back at her, a serious look on his face.

"Well, I would suggest you cool off your plan for a while and go along with Lord Xemnas' plan. You don't want something bad to happen to you or to Sora, do you?" he said, pushing himself into a standing position again. "You need to be more careful, alright? I don't know what I would do without you" he said, his tone softening as he touched her cheek. Rose side and put her hand over his, staring into his eyes adoringly.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Axel. I didn't mean to" she muttered. Axel shook his head and leaned forward, placing a kiss on her lips gently before pulling away again.

"Enough of that, now. I'll see you later, okay?" he said before pulling away and disappearing inside his portal. Once he was gone, the world around her began to move again, as if nothing had happened. Rose tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and leaned against the bar, enjoying her drink as they sat there enjoying each others company for the rest of the night.


	8. Chapter 7: The Warning

Okami sat in her favorite spot in the window sill, staring out into the black sky. Where the Organization was located, there was nothing but darkness and it drove her insane. While she was deep in her thoughts, Axel entered the room, clearing his throat as he walked over to her.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, sitting down next to her on the window sill. Okami glanced in his direction, a small smile spreading across her face. Though she loved Saix with all her heart, she always had feelings for Axel deep down. The only thing that was stopping her was the fact he was with her sister and she would never do anything to hurt Rose intentionally.

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about Rose. I hope she's okay" she replied, a hint of sadness in her voice as she stared out into the distance. Axel nodded and put his feet up onto the window sill, resting his head back against the wall.

"She's fine. I went to see her a bit ago. She ran into Riku and Sora like Xemnas had planned" he explained to her, looking in her direction again. Okami sat up, looking back at him.

"She didn't do anything against what father told her, did she?" a hint of worry in her voice. Okami knew her sister disliked their father and would do anything to go against him, but still worried she might do something stupid to get herself hurt. Axel chuckled and pulled out two sea-salt ice creams, handing one to Okami.

"You know Rose will do what Rose wants to do. All we can do is try to help her, but she has to fall down and get back up on her own at some point. We can't always be there to save her" he said, taking a bite of his own ice cream. Okami sighed and bit into her ice cream, hating that Axel was right about this. She didn't want to admit he was right so she just stayed quiet on the subject.

"So, have any fun missions today?" Okami asked, quickly changing the subject. Axel glanced in her direction and shrugged, having already finished off his ice cream.

"Eh, just the same old stuff. Fighting Heartless, teaching the newbies. You know, stuff like that" he explained, chucking his Popsicle stick into the waste bin beside the window. He then stood up and ruffled her hair playfully. "I'll catch you later" Axel said, making his way out the door as Saix walked in.

"Axel" he said, nodding his head in Axel's direction. Axel touched his shoulder gently, give it a small squeeze.

"Saix" he said, his voice sounding softer as he passed Saix, giving him a wink. Saix rolled his eyes and shook his head, an amused smile on his face as he closed the door behind him. Okami glanced up from the Popsicle stick she was playing with, a large smile growing on her face.

"Saix" she breathed as he made his way over to her, wrapping his arms around her gently. Okami sighed happily and lay her head against his chest, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Saix ran a hand through her dark hair, a smile on his face.

"I'm actually here to give you your first mission, sweetheart. Come with me?" he said, pulling away from her and taking her hand in his own. Okami smiled and nodded, tossing her stick into the trash and held onto his hand, following him out of the room.

When they arrived to the throne room, the only people who were there was Xemnas and Casaix. Both were standing in the middle of the room, waiting for them. Okami paused in front of the door when Saix pulled away from her.

"You're not coming with us?" she asked, a worried look on her face. Saix shook his head and  
touched her cheek affectionally before stepping outside the door.

"You'll have to be on your own for this one" he told her. "I'm sure you'll be just fine. You have Casaix with you" Saix said, turning to leave with a smile on his face. Okami sighed and nodded, knowing he was right. She had to do this on her own. Okami made her way over to where Xemnas and Casaix were standing, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you for coming, my child" Xemnas said as he watched her approach, "your mission today is somewhat different from the others we have done in the past. I need you and Casaix to follow someone for me. I suspect them of treason against the Organization. I need you to find out who" he explained. Okami nodded and glanced in Casaix's direction. Casaix glanced back at her, a look of worry on his face.

"Who are were following, father?" Okami questioned, looking back in his direction. Xemnas sighed and put his hands behind his back in contemplation.

"I'm not sure. I haven't quite figured out who it is yet. I just know for certain one of us is a traitor! Please find out for me and report back when you find something" he told her, glancing back in her direction. Okami nodded and snapped her fingers, a dark portal appearing in front of her and Casaix.

"Come on, then" she said as she disappeared through the portal. Casaix glanced back at Xemnas before going through the portal himself. He had hoped it wasn't Rose, but had a sneaky suspicion there was a slight possibility it was.

The next morning, Rose woke up with a rather large migraine. She squinted as she opened her eyes, the light from behind the curtains making her eyes hurt. Rose slowly sat up in bed as Lexon entered the room, pulling the curtains open to let the sunshine come in.

"Rise and shine, princess!" he said, a large grin on his face as he turned towards her. Rose groaned and pulled the cover over her head, trying to block out the light coming from the open curtains. Lexon walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off her head and tossed the entire thing onto the floor. Rose glared at him and used the sheet to cover herself.

"I could have been naked under there!" she shouted at him, glaring daggers. Lexon shrugged and tossed a house coat in her direction, making his way to the door.

"Nothing I haven't seen on a woman before" he replied as he disappeared from the room, "now get up! I made breakfast" he shouted from halfway down the hall. Rose sighed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, trying to get rid of the killer migraine she had. A black portal appeared before she could do anything else, Okami and Casaix appearing from it. Rose sighed and looked in their direction, an annoyed look on her face.

"Can't anyone get some sleep around here?" she grumbled as she stood up, adjusting her pajama bottoms. Okami stepped over to her, a look of concern on her face.

"You're not planning anything stupid, are you?" she suddenly said, putting both her hands on her sisters shoulders, "If you are, give up your plan now! Father suspects someone of treason and asked me to look into it!" Okami explained, a look of concern on her face. Rose looked her sister in the eye, a confused look on her face.

"What are you talking about? What plan? I just got rudely awakened by Lexon. My only 'plan' is to get revenge on him later" she muttered as she pulled away from her sister, heading over to the closet to find something to wear since she knew she would not be getting anymore sleep that morning. Okami sighed in relief and walked over to her sister.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really paranoid. I know you're always coming up with plans to go against father, that's why I suspected you first" she tried to explain. Rose glaned back at her, pulling a red dress off it's hanger.

"Glad you have so much faith in me, my dear sister" she said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Rose then disappeared behind the changing wall, soon reappearing from behind it wearing the dress and tossed the pajamas's onto the bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have breakfast and then go see my friends" she said as she pushed past Okami, looking in Casaix's direction, "I can't believe you're in on this too" Rose said, a hint of hurt in her voice as she disappeared down the hall. Okami glanced over at Casaix, who had a look of confusion and hurt on his face.

"Why would she assume we were here to accuse her? We we're just asking questions" he said, trying to make sense about what had just happened. Okami sighed and rolled her eyes, touching Casaix gently on the arm.

"I wouldn't look into it too much, Cas. You know how moody she can get. She didn't purposely try to hurt you, she's just in a bad mood at the moment. We better go before we piss her off more" she said as the portal appeared again, Okami stepping through it. Casaix paused and glanced back at the doorway, Rose standing there as if she had been watching them.

"I'm not mad at you, Cas. I'm mad at her for always taking fathers side. You take care of yourself, okay? I love you my friend" she whispered before disappearing through the doorway again. Casaix watched her leave with a large smile on his face, glad she wasn't mad at him.

"You coming or what?" Okami's annoyed voice came from somewhere inside the portal. Casaix nodded and glanced back at the doorway one more time before disappearing through the portal again.

Rose sat down at the island table, a look of annoyance still on her face. She glanced over in Lexon's direction, amused by the fact he was actually cooking for her.

"I didn't know you could cook, Lex. You don't seem the type to know how" she teased, wanting to get some sort of reaction out of her. Lexon turned around from where he was cooking at the stove and glared at her.

"Funny" he said, walking over to her and placing a plate down in front of her. Rose glanced down and looked at what he had given her. She made a face when she realized there was bacon and sausage on her plate.

"Lex, you know I don't eat meat. Why would you give me this?" she grumbled, shooting a glare in his direction. Lexon grinned and took the plate away, switching it for a different one with pancakes instead.

"Just to see your reaction" he teased as he sat down on the stool across from her, digging into the plate he had placed down in front of himself. Rose rolled her eyes and picked up her fork, poking the eggs on her plate with it, soon deep in thought "Don't play with your food. Just eat it" Lexon's voice interrupted her thoughts. Rose shook her head and glanced over at him, a look of sadness on her face.

"Sorry, Lexon" she whispered as she picked up a piece of the egg, popping it into her mouth. She had been thinking about Axel and everyone else in her life. She felt like she couldn't trust anyone but Casaix anymore. He was the only person who wasn't dumbly following Xemnas' orders like a puppet. Well, that she knew of anyways out of the people she knew well.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts as Lexon stood up from his chair, opening the front door. In the doorway stood Riku, a bunch of flowers in his hand. Rose watched quietly, wondering what Lexon's reaction would be.

"Hey, kid. I'm guessing you're here for Rose? She's having breakfast right now so she'll see you later" he said. Riku glanced in her direction before nodding and handing Lexon the flowers.

"Please give her these for me" he said, looking back at her before disappearing out the doorway. Lexon shrugged and closed the door, making his way over to her and placing the flowers down beside her on the counter.

"Some flowers for you from your boyfriend. Now, finish your breakfast" he said, sitting back down in his stool. Rose glanced down at the flowers, a light blush appearing on her cheeks. She could not believe someone would give her flowers like this out of the blue. She had only met him recently, but felt a strong connection to him. Rose then thought about Axel who always had her favorite ice cream on him, a smile spreading across her face.

Rose quickly finished her breakfast, putting her empty plate on the counter next to the sink and grabbed the flowers, pausing just enough to realize they were actually roses, before heading to her room to put them into a vase. As she was trimming the bottoms of the roses, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Secret admirer?" the familiar voice asked. Rose glanced up to see Axel leaning against the closed door, arms over his chest and an amused look on his face. Rose smiled and put the last rose into the vase before setting down the scissors, making her way over to Axel who watched her carefully.

"Yea, hes a nice guy. He's just a friend though" she assured him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Axel uncrossed his arms and wrapped them around her waste, an amused look on his face as he pulled her closer.

"Well, I have eyes for only you. Got it memorized?" he whispered, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her lips. Rose's blush deepened as she kissed him back, really enjoying his sporadic visits. She soon pulled away from him, touching his cheek gently.

"What brings you here, my love?" she asked looking into his eyes. Axel put his hand over hers and sighed, looking into her eyes with a concerned look on his face.

"Xemnas is sending your sister Okami and Casaix to find out who's going against the Organization. I think she may be going to see you first. I just came here to warn you" he explained. Rose rolled her eyes in amusement.

"She's already been here. I already told her it wasn't me. She actually believed me so everything is fine" she assured him, taking his hand in her own. "You don't need to worry about me, Hun. I'm not stupid enough to try anything now with them watching me like a hawk. Got it memorized?" she grinned, loving using his famous quote against him. Axel rolled his eyes playfully, ruffling her hair before walking over towards the window.

"This place is always so bright. I don't know how you're not blinded by all this light" he commenting, trying to change the subject. Rose shrugged and sat down on the bed, picking up her hair brush and began brushing her long orange hair.

"You get use to it after a while. It's much better than the constant darkness from the castle" she assured him, watching him in amusement. Axel glanced back over to her, a small grin on his face.

"Yea, I suppose so. Take care of yourself, okay? I love you, Rose. I don't want anything bad to happen to you" he said, a hint of sadness in hsi voice. Rose paused her brushing to look at him in the eye.

"You know I always do. I love you too" she said adoringly, putting the brush down on her bed. A knock on her bedroom door made her pause, secretly cursing herself for not locking the door. Lexon soon opened the door, looking around the room. She secretly hoped Axel had disappeared before Lexon noticed him.

"I know someone was in here, Rose. You may want to be more careful who you invite here. You don't want anyone suspecting you of treason, do you?" he warned, a hint of amusement on his face as he disappeared out the door, closing it behind him. Rose slowly let out a breath and turned to where Axel was, realizing he had already gone. Rose sighed and slipped her feet into her sandals and made her way to the front door, pausing to look over at Lexon.

"Don't smoke in the house or I'll know, got it?" she said before walking out the door, not giving him enough time to answer before heading down the path to the beach where she had hoped her friends were there waiting for her.

When she got to the beach, she saw Riku there as well as Sora and Kairi. They were in their bathing suits and hitting a white ball over a net that was between them. On one side there was Riku and Sora, on the other was Kairi and who she soon realized was Rae. Riku paused and glanced in her direction, somehow knowing she was there and a grin spread across his face.

"Rose! Come join us!" he shouted, waving her over. Rose grinned and waved back. She was about to walk over, pausing in horror as the ball came flying over the net and hit him right in the face, knocking him onto the ground.

"Riku!" she exclaimed, running over to him and knelt down beside him in shock. "Riku! are you okay?" Rose asked, turning his face in her direction to examine it. Riku's face appeared to be fine except the blood that was running down his nose. She guessed the ball had hit him in the nose. Rose frowned and pulled a tissue from her pocket, starting to dab the blood gently from his face. Riku reached a hand up, placing a hand on hers.

"I'm fine, really. It's not really that bad" he assured her, trying to pull away from her. Rose rolled her eyes at how manly he was trying to be sat herself so his legs were pinned between hers so he couldn't move.

"Stop being such a guy. I'm guessing your nose is probably broken from the amount of blood here. Now please sit still" she ordered, turning his head in her direction again so she could clean off the blood. Riku watched her, a look of amusement on his face. He could not believe a girl he had just met cared so much about him in a short period of time. Riku felt a weird sensation in the pit of his stomach, as if he had butterflies. He normally didn't believe in love at first sight, but this felt different.

"Is he okay?" Sora asked, kneeling down beside them. "I didn't mean to hit the ball that hard!" he exclaimed, crouching close to them. Rose glanced in his direction and smiled as she finished wiping the blood off, examining his nose for any damage.

"He's fine! I thought it was broken but it's probably just bleeding from impact. Thank goodness for that" she said as she released Riku's knees, standing up in front of him now. "You need to be more careful, okay?" Rose said, winking in his direction. Riku blushed faintly and stood up, glancing away from her.

"Thanks..." he said, touching his nose as he winced in pain. Rose shook her head in amusement and pushed his arm playfully.

"It's bruised! Don't play with it" she teased as she tossed the bloodied tissue into the garbage nearby. "So, what's this game you guys were playing? It look fun" she said, a grin on her face. Sora grinned and tossed the ball in her direction, Rose quickly catching it.

"Volleyball! It's really easy!" he said excitedly as he made his way back around the other side of the net. "You toss the ball into the air and try to get it over the net. We have to hit it back to you and whoever misses the ball, the other player gets the point. Got it?" Sora said. Rose nodded and tossed the ball in the air, hitting with all her might. It landed between Rae and Kairi and bounced away.

"Wow! You're amazing at this game! Are you sure you've never played before?!" Kairi exclaimed, picking up the ball from the sand. Rose shrugged and rubbed her back of her head nervously.

"Not that I'm aware of! I never really had much of a childhood to be honest with you" she said, her eyes seeming saddened. Kairi watched her careful, hoping she hadn't upset her. Rose looked up again and the feeling was gone as quickly as it came. "Are we going to finish this game or what?!" she exclaimed, getting back into position. Riku watched her and smiled, deciding to sit back and watch, deciding to give his nose time to heal.

When everyone was tired out from their game, they all gathered to have some lunch. Rae made her away around the counter to begin cooking for her friends. She very much enjoyed spending time getting to know Rose and her friends and was thankful for the distraction from the Organization. Rae had joined the Organization two years previous and she was starting to get annoyed at all the things that's been happening around her. She didn't like the way they ran things. Although, she was grateful to have met her boyfriend Zexion whom she had been with since she joined. Rae sighed happily as she thought about him, deciding to try her hand at sushi for lunch.

Rae glanced up from what she was working on, having a feeling someone was watching her. Off in the distance, from behind one of the palm trees, she saw Zexion standing there and watching them. Rae gave him a small wave, a blush quickly forming on her cheeks. Zexion grinned and waved back, sending her a wink at the same time. Rae blushed even worse, shaking her head in embarrassment. Rose glanced up from her drink and watched Rae intently. She looked over in the direction where Zexion was, an amused smile on her face.

"I see your boyfriend came to visit you, that's sweet" she said teasingly to her friend. Rae jumped a little, almost dropping the knife she had in her hand. She turned her attention to Rose, glaring at her.

"Oh my gosh! Don't scare me like that, geez! I almost dropped the knife" she grumbled, blushing deeper in embarrassment. Rose laughed and sat up, hopping down from the stool. She made her way over to where Zexion was, making sure no one was paying attention to her. Zexion nodded in her direction, motioning for her to follow him. Rose nodded and followed after him, both of them pausing in front of the cave that led up to her house.

"I see you're getting along fine with Sora and his friends" he remarked, watching her carefully. Rose shrugged and linked her hands behind her back, looking around innocently.

"They're alright. How are things at the home front?" she questioned, trying to change the subject. Zexion shrugged and brushed his bangs from his face, a smile on his face.

"Everything it fine. Xemnas doesn't suspect a thing. He thinks it's someone else other than you that's trying to mess with him" he assured her. Rose nodded and grinned watching him with amusement.

"You and Rae are cute together. Though, if you hurt her I might have to hurt ya" she teased, grinning. Zexion rolled his eyes playfully, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I could say the same thing about you and Axel. I see the way you look at Riku. If you hurt him I'm sure I would do the same thing as you were planning on for me" he warned. Rose rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Geez, Zexion. I was only kidding with you. I know you would never hurt Rae and I would never hurt Axel. Yea, Riku's cute, but my heart belongs to Axel and him only" she assured him. Zexion nodded and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, heading in the direction of the house. Rose and her friends always did that when they left each other as a way of remembering each other if anything happened.

"I'll see you later" he said as he waved, heading up the path towards her house. Rose watched him leave and sighed, turning on her heels to head back to her friends. She paused for a moment, looking in the direction of the shack. She noticed someone had taken her seat. Xyle was sitting there, laughing with her friends, a large grin on his face. Her eyes narrowed as she walked over, grabbing Xyle by the shirt and dragged him over to the nearby palm tree.

"What do you think you're doing, Xyle? Why are you here?" she questioned, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. Xyle shrugged and took a bite of Popsicle that was in his hand.

"I just came to say hi. Is there anything wrong with that?" he questioned, watching her reaction. Rose glanced and moved closer to him, a hint of warning in her voice as she spoke.

"I know what you're up to, Xyle. If you hurt any of my friends I swear to god I will end you" she spat. Xyle looked at her, a look of fake hurt on his face.

"You do know who you're talking to, right? I would watch what you say or I may have to just report you to daddy and you won't see the light of day again" he hissed. Rose huffed and let go of his shirt, glancing back at him angrily as she made her way back over to where her friends were. Xyle watched her leave, amusement on his face as a voice interrupted from behind him.

"I would be careful if I were you, Xyle. She's much more powerful than you think she is. Rose has trained with the best in the Organization and a quick learner too" Xathoms warned him. Xyle shrugged and tossed his empty Popsicle stick into the trash can nearby.

"Eh, I can take her in a fight. Besides, I'm sure you'd help me anyways. Right, buddy?" he grinned. Xathoms shook his head in annoyance, snapping his fingers to make the portal appear back to the castle.

"Don't say I didn't warn you" he said, stepping through and disappearing into the darkness instantly. Xyle glanced back at Rose and her friends once more before disappearing in the portal after his friend.


	9. Chapter 8: Revelations

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going for a swim" Riku announced as he pulled his shirt up over his head and tossed it aside before heading in the direction of the shoreline. Rose watched quietly in awe, amazed at how well built he was for a young teenager. She quickly shook her head dismissing any thoughts that had appeared in her head. Sora pushed her playfully, soon realizing she was staring at Riku.

"Looks like someone has a crush on Riku!" he teased, pushing her arm playfully as he hopped down from his seat, mimicking Riku by taking his shirt off as well, following after him. Rose watched the boys go as Rae came out from behind the counter, watching with an amused look on her face.

"Let's go, girls! That looks like a lot of fun!" she exclaimed, grabbing Rose and Kairi by the hands, leading them off to the shoreline after them. Rose followed the two girls reluctantly, remembering she had never been taught how to swim and water frightened her.

When she was younger she had fallen down the side of the castle where the waterfall was and almost drowned. Thankfully that day Isaac was there to save her or she would not be here right now. Rose paused and pulled her hand away, setting herself down on the sand, leaning up against the palm tree.

"I'll just watch you guys" she told them, resting her chin on her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. Rae and Kairi looked at each other and shrugged, both girls following Riku and Sora into the water.

"Still afraid of water, huh?" a voice said from beside her, catching her off guard. Rose glanced over to her right, Casaix now sitting beside her. Her gazed softened as she looped her arm through his, laying her head against his shoulder. Rose always did that when she was younger when she was upset or frightened, his presence always seeming to calm her.

"Yea and I feel like an idiot because I can't do something as simple as swimming" she muttered, her grip tightening on his arm. Casaix glanced down at her before resting his head on top of hers.

"Things take time. You have to fall a couple of times before you can run. You just have to get back up again and keep going. Besides, you love learning" he explained, placing a kiss on the top of her head gently before laying his head back down. Rose sighed softly and thought about what he said. Of course she would look like a flailing idiot when she tried to swim, but eventually she would learn how to.

"You're right, Casaix. Thank you for that" she said softly, looking up to meet his gaze. Casaix smiled and leaned down so they were face to face.

"It was my pleasure" he whispered. Their thoughts were soon interrupted by a large amount of water coming in their direction, soaking both of them. Rose jumped up in shock at how cold the water was.

"Oh. My. God! Who did that?!" she screamed, turning in the direction of where the water had come. Riku was standing there, waist deep in water with a rather large grin on his face, accompanied by Sora.

"We thought you needed a bit of cooling off. That's all" RIku explained, his grin growing wider by the minute. Rose glared at him, practically yanking her dress off as she tossed it aside as she tackled Riku into the water, knocking them both under. Rose gasped as she realized what she had done, getting a mouth full of water as she struggled to get back to the surface. Riku watched her struggle and quickly reacting, realizing she didn't know how to swim as he pulled her up out of the water. Rose soon surfaced, coughing from the water that had went into her lungs.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" Sora exclaimed as he moved closer to them. Riku wrapped an arm around her waist, using his other hand to pat her back to get the water out of her lungs.

"She's fine, Sora. Just a little water in her lungs that's all" he explained, smiling in his friends direction. Sora sighed in relief and brushed the wet hair from Rose's face so she could see again. Rose soon recovered after a while, but could not hide the embarrassment on her face, glancing in Riku's direction.

"I'm sorry, Riku. I didn't know what I was thinking" she muttered, glancing away. Riku rolled his eyes playfully and wrapped her in a hug.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about this. Later tonight meet me here and I'll teach you how to swim" he whispered in her ear as he hugged her gently, releasing her immediately after. Rose smiled at the nice gesture Riku was doing for her, glad she had people like him to call a friend around here. She glanced over to where Casaix was, noticing he hadn't moved from his spot on the sand. He had an amused look on his face as he watched them.

"Guys! I want you to meet someone" Rose suddenly announced, looking from Riku to Sora and back again. Riku nodded and helped her to the shore, pausing to let her stand by herself as they made there way over to where Casaix was, Sora in tow. Riku looked down at Casaix, watching him careful.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Riku" he said, extending a hand to Casaix. Casaix grinned and took his hand, shaking it firmly as he stood, practically towering over him because of his height.

"Casaix, but you can call me Cas" he introduced himself. Sora walked over to them, his hands behind his head, acting all nonchalant.

"Names, Sora. Nice to meet you!" he said, his usual grin plastered on his face. Casaix nodded in Sora's direction before resting his eyes on Rose again.

"You have very nice friends" he commented, a smile on his face, "I need to go now, though. You have fun, okay?" Casaix said before turning away, disappearing down the path towards the main part of the beach. Rose turned her attention back to Riku and Sora when Casaix was no longer in sight, a smile on her face.

"Can we go back in? That was actually really fun" she said, her cheeks glowing light pink in color as she laughed nervously. Riku grinned and linked his arm through hers.

"I'm actually getting kind of hungry after all that excitement. How about we ask Rae to whip us up something good?" he said, leading her in the direction of the beach. Sora waved them away as he told them he would let the girls know where to find them. Rose and Riku walked down the beach together, Rose sighing softly as she rest her head against Riku's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble. Thank you for not saying anything to the others" she muttered. Riku glanced down at her and shrugged, patting the top of her head gently.

"Why would I say anything? It's none of their business" he assured her as they stopped in front of the cabana, pausing to take their usual spots on the stools, "I had to learn how to swim too. I wasn't a born swimmer either. Things take time and patience. I'm sure you'll get there easily. You're a smart girl" he complimented, resting his elbow on the counter as he watched her. Rose nodded and reached over the bar, taking one of the cherries from the bowl and popped it into her mouth.

"I guess you're right. I don't know what I was worried about" she agreed, now keep in thought. Riku turned his attention to the beach where their friends had finally arrived, their belongings in their arms as they paused to toss everything into a pile, Rae taking her usual spot behind the bar.

"So guys and girls! What's everyone craving tonight?" she asked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Everyone looked at each other, expecting the other person for an answer, but no one had one. Rae laughed and pulled out a knife from the cutting board as she pulled something out of the fridge. "Mystery stew it is!" she joked as she began chopping vegetables that she had pulled out.

Somewhere in the distance, Axel watched from afar, having witnessed all the events that had happened earlier. He leaned against one of the palm trees, unsure of what to make of what he had seen. Axel knew Rose loved him, but also noticed a connection between her and Riku. He ran a genly had through his hair as he sighed, Casaix coming up beside him.

"She loves only you, Axel. These feelings she has for Riku are merely a creation of Xemnas' doing. He put those ideas in her heart so she would stray from the Organization. He knows she wants to mess with his plans so this way she can't because she'll be too distracted" he explained, pulling something out from behind his back. Casaix produced two blue ice creams and handed one to Axel. Axel took one and looked at him sadly, sighing as he bit into his.

"That's good to know. Here I was thinking I wasn't good enough for her. Thank you for that" he said, a small smile on his face as he watched Casaix. Casaix smiled and used his free hand to pat Axel's shoulder reassuringly.

"No problem, brother. You know I'm always looking out for you" he said, glancing back in the direction of the others. Axel grinned and took another bite of his ice cream, wishing he could over there right now and join them. Though, he knew he couldn't or he would have to risk the wrath of Xemnas. Instead he stood with Casaix, both men enjoying their ice creams as they watched what unfolded in front of them.

When everyone had finished eating, they had decided to make a fire on the beach to warm themselves up. It was finally getting dark out and when it got darker it got colder. Rose sat down on a piece of wood the boys had placed down, soon after joined by Riku and Sora on either side of her, Rae sat down across from them, accompanied by Kairi and Zexion who had shown up to join them. Rose leaned back against the log, staring up at the sky thoughtfully.

"I'm so glad to have met you guys. I'm honored to call you guys my friends" she said as she looked at each of them individually for a brief moment. Sora reached over and patted her on the back, his trademark grin on his face.

"Yea! You're a great friend too. I know we've only known each other for a couple of days, but I feel like I've known you all my life." When Sora said this comment, something in the back of her head snapped back in place as she looked in Sora's direction. Rose examined him more carefully now, realizing he looked a lot like Ventus. She shook her head in amusement at the thought. There was no way she was lucky enough to be reunited with her old friend, it was merely a coincidence.

"Everything okay, Rose?" Riku's voice interrupted her thoughts. Rose jumped slightly, realizing she was staring at Sora who had a confused look on his face. She turned her glaze towards Riku, a smile on her face.

"I'm fine" she assured him, looking back in Sora's direction, "he just looks lot like an old friend I had ten years ago. His name was Ventus" she said quietly. Zexion looked over in her direction when he heard the name Ventus, deciding whether or not to tell her. He soon decided against it, not wanting to give her too much information too quickly.

"Just a coincidence, Rose. You know what happened to him" he told her. Rose nodded and glanced down sadly, remembering the day perfectly as if it had just happened. She felt tears stinging in the corner of her eyes as a hand touched her shoulder reassuringly. Rose looked up in the persons direction, her eyes locking with Sora's.

"Hey, are you okay? You look really sad all of a sudden. Was it something I said?" he asked, a hint of concern in his voice. Rose shook her head and dabbed the corner of her eye with her sleeve, sniffling a little.

"I'm fine, Sora. You didn't do anything wrong" she said, a small smile forming on her lips. Sora smiled back at her, pausing when he suddenly thought of something. He quickly stood up and rushed in the direction of the fallen palm tree. Rose watched him leave, a look of confusion on her face. A few moments later he came back, holding an object in his hand that looked like a star. Sora sat back down beside her, breaking off a piece and handing it to her.

"This is the Paopu Fruit. According to legend, if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what" he explained, a smile on his face. Rose accepted the piece, bringing the fruit to her mouth as she took a bite. The fruit tasted sweet, almost like a pineapple. She looked back at him, the tears that had threatened to spill earlier now flowing down her face. Although, these tears were not of sadness now, but of happiness.

"Thank you, Sora. This means a lot to me" she said, her voice quivering. Sora watched her in shock, unsure of what to do down. He put the rest of the fruit down and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you cry. Please don't cry!" he exclaimed, hugging her tighter. Riku looked over at them and rolled his eyes.

"What did you say now, Sora? What did you do to upset her!" he said, a hint of annoyance in his face. Rose glanced over at Riku and shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"No, it's okay, Riku! These are tears of happiness. I'm just so grateful to have met you guys and this gesture that Sora just did for me meant a lot to me. I'm sorry if I worried you guys" she said as she hugged Sora, placing a kiss on his cheek before pulling away. Sora's face turned bright red as he touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed, looking at her in confusion.

"What was that for? All I did was give you a piece of fruit" he said, laughing nervously as his blush spread. Rose smiled and touched his hand gently in reassurance.

"For being a great friend" she explained, taking his hand in her own as well as Riku's, "I love you guys so much and I wouldn't replace any of you for the world" Rose said to them, a bright smile on her face. Sora grinned and squeezed her hand, not letting go quite yet. All three friends sat there, holding hands as they stared into the fire, the night getting later as they sat.

That night, when everyone had gone to bed, Riku and Rose made their way over to the fallen palm tree, They paused to drop their things on the sand, Rose stopping to pull off her dress again, still wearing her black and white bathing suit. Riku pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the pile, reaching for her hand as he led her to the waters edge.

"Now, just a heads up, the water is going to be super cold" he warned her as they dipped their toes in the water. Rose shivered at the cold water, almost wanting to turn back around, but she was determined to learn how to swim. Riku laughed in amusement at her reaction as he led her deeper into the water, stopping when her feet barely touched the bottom. He wrapped his arms around her waist to help her stay afloat. "Okay, now all you have to do is kick your feet and you should stay afloat. Use your arms to keep your balance, okay?" Riku told her. Rose nodded and let out a slow breath as Riku let go of her waist.

"I can do this. I can do this!" she muttered to herself as he released her, staring to move her legs and arms as he instructed, shocked that it was actually working. Riku smiled as he watched her, deciding to test her a little. He swam a bit of a ways from her, holding out his arms in her direction.

"Now, swim to me! Move your arms out in front of you in a stroking motion as you kick your feet. You should be pushed forward by this" he explained. Rose nodded, secretly hoping she wouldn't panic as she did as he instructed, pushing herself forward with her feet as she kicked at the water, using her arms to push the water away from her.

Something in the back of her brain snapped as a sudden memory of her childhood appeared in her mind, making her panic. She stopped swimming and now she was frantically kicking her arms and legs before soon ending up under the water. A few moments later she surfaced, coughing out the salty water she had swallowed. Riku was now there, holding on to her.

"Are you okay, Rose? You froze up and went under" he asked, concern in his voice. Rose nodded and wiped the water from her face, looking in Riku's direction in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I just had flashback of my childhood then I froze up and went under. I didn't mean to worry you" she said softly, wrapping her arms around Riku's neck for more support. Riku held her closer to him, soon realizing their faces were inches apart.

"Don't scare me like that, okay?" he whispered, looking into her eyes. Rose blushed faintly as she leaned closer, unable to stop herself as she pressed her lips against his. Riku's eyes widened in shock for a moment, realizing what she was doing, before closing them as he kissed her back, holding her closer against him.

A few moments later they separated, looking at each other again. Both of them now bright red, but had big smiles on their faces. Rose laughed nervously as she pulled away from Riku now, using her feet to move her towards the shoreline. She climbed out of the water as she offered her hand to Riku, who gladly accepted it as they made their way over to their things, both sitting on the sand next to each other. Riku glanced in her direction, his smile still on his face.

"I don't know what that was, but I really enjoyed it" he whispered to her. Rose laughed and hugged her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her knees.

"I don't know what came over me. I just wanted to suddenly kiss you. I'm sorry if I forced it onto you" she said, looking back over at him. Riku shook his head and smiled wider, moving to sit closer to her.

"You didn't force anything on me" he assured her, touching her arm gently, "I was actually hoping you would do it again" he whispered softly. Rose smiled, all thoughts of Axel suddenly disappearing as she leaned forward, pressing her lip against his again as they kissed.

Somewhere nearby, Xyle stood with Xemnas, both men with large grins on their faces as they watched the two. Xyle turned his attention to Xemnas, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Looks like your plan is working, Lord Xemnas" he commented, motioning his head in their direction. Xemnas chuckled and turned away, glancing up at the moon.

"That is just part of my plan, Xyle. There is plenty more where that came from" he assured him, a dark portal appearing in front of him as he disappeared through it, "Now come, we have much more to do." Xyle nodded and glanced over in the direction of the path to Rose's house, an amused look on his face when he saw Axel standing there.

Axel glanced over at him, a look of hurt on his face. Xyle shrugged with a rather large grin on his face as he waved at Axel before disappearing through the portal. Axel glanced back over to them and sighed, soon disappearing into a portal of his own. He knew this was all part of Xemnas' plan and he was controlling her heart, but it still hurt.

That night, after Rose had walked Riku home, both sharing a goodnight kiss, she decided she wanted to go sit on the raft and think. Rose made her way back down the beach to where the raft was, pausing to step onto it and sat down. She stared off into the distance, a look of contemplation on her face.

Rose brought her knees to her chest and watched the sky quietly, shivering slightly when a soft wind began to looked around, noticing something different about the area around her. There was now dark clouds forming in the sky, but they didn't look like rain clouds. There was also a large ball of darkness that made her very uneasy. Rose stood up and glanced around her, something appearing around them.

"Heartless!" she exclaimed as she ran over in the direction of the island. The wind began to blow stronger as she approached, Sora appearing from the direction of his house. Rose shook her head and motioned for him to leave as her Keyblade appeared in his hand. Sora shook his head in her direction as he held a wooden sword in his hand.

"I'm not leaving you! I never leave my friends behind" he shouted, trying to talk to her over the loud wing. Rose rolled her eyes and motioned in the direction of his wooden sword.

"Those won't hurt the Heartless! Leave the fighting to me" she shouted back, rushing in the direction of the Heartless. Sora shook his head and followed after her, not backing down from this. He never backed down when it came to his friends.

"I got your back!" he exclaimed. Rose nodded, knowing she could not change his mind. She rushed forward, her Keyblade in hand as she fought through the Heartless with ease. When they were sure there was none left, they turned to look in the direction of the the island where they liked to hang out, noticing Rku standing there. They rushed over to him, pausing when he turned to look at them.

"The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world! he exclaimed. Sora looked at his friend with a confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kaiiri!" he exclaimed.

"Kairi's coming with us!" Riku said, now turning his attention to the dark orb that was now above them, "Once we step through. we might not be able to come may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance, we can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" he said, turning to hold out a hand to Sora and Rose.

A few moments later, a dark circle appeared around Riku, surrounding him in darkness as Sora went to reach for him, but was met with empty space. As Riku disappeared into the darkness, Sora felt himself tugged downwards as he too disappeared. Rose watched in horror as her friends disappeared, not believing what she was seeing. She gripped her Keyblade, silently cursing her father for causing this.

A light appeared from somewhere nearby and Sora re-appeared again, this time with Keyblade in hand. Rose paused and watched, a look of awe on her face. She could not believe Sora was actually a Keyblade wielder.

"Sora! You're back!" she exclaimed, running over to him and hugged him tightly. Sora grinned and hugged her back, feeling like he had been gone forever.

"You can't get rid of me that easily!" he assured her, pulling away from her. "Did you see where Riku went?" Sora asked her, looking around. Rose shook her head sadly and lowered her Keyblade, it soon disappearing from her hand.

"I saw him go into the darkness when you did. What did he mean about the open door?" he asked him. Sora paused for a second, thinking about what Riku had said. Something in the back of his mind clicked as he took Rose's hand, leading her in the direction of her house.

"The door! Come with me! I know where Kairi is" he said as he led her towards the path. When they got to the foot of the path, something appeared between them, like a barrier, causing their hands to separate. Rose glanced around, wondering where the magic had come from. Sora stood on the other side of the barrier, banging on it to try and get through.

"You're not getting through, Sora. That is very powerful magic. Now, run along to your friends" a familiar voice said from nearby. Rose looked over in his direction and nodded her head forward, signalling for him to go on ahead. Sora sighed and nodded, making his way up the path. Rose turned to the figure now in front of her, face to face with Axel.

"Axel, what are you doing?" she questioned, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Axel leaned against the tree nonchalantly and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Stopping you from getting yourself hurt. You know you're not suppose to be interfering" he reminded her. Rose glared and her Keyblade appeared in her hand again, preparing herself to fight if she had to.

"What? Are you on his side now?" she spat. Axel rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the tree, reaching to brush a strand of loose hair from her face.

"Didn't you hear what I said? I said I was stopping you from getting hurt. You need to learn to listen better" he grumbled. Rose flinched away from him, suddenly feeling an intense anger deep inside of her. She didn't know where the anger came from, but she knew she had to fight it.

"Axel, please. Let me go see Sora! I don't want him getting hurt" she pleaded to him. Axel shook his head and put an arm around her shoulders, turning her away from the path.

"No can do, babe. Your friend will be just fine" he assured her. Rose growled and pulled away from him, her anger growing once again. A dark wisp started to quickly form around her, soon wrapping around her arm. Rose glanced back at Axel who had a look of shock on his face.

"Axel, I'm going to ask you one last time. Please drop the barrier or I'll have to fight it out of you" she warned. Axel sighed and shrugged, his weapons appearing in his hand as he took a few steps back.

"I guess we're fighting, then. I'm not letting you go through there" he said, readying himself for battle. Rose then rushed towards him, the darkness now almost completely consuming her as she fought Axel, easily dodging his moves and hitting blows of her own. For some reason she was quicker than normal, Axel normally beating her in battle.

After a few short minutes, Rose had easily knocked Axel down onto the sand, Axel landing on his behind as his weapons disappeared. Rose stood over him, her Keyblade pointed at him as she tried to catch her breath. Axel held up his hands in defeat as he waved a hand to make the barrier disappear.

"You win. I know when I'm beat" he said, touching his back and wincing in pain. Rose's gazed softened as the darkness soon disappeared as well as her Keyblade. She then knelt down beside him and touched his cheek softly.

"Axel, I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me" she said, her voice quavering as tears pilled down her cheeks. Axel chuckled and pulled her down so her back was resting on his knees as she looked up at him.

"I know it's not your fault. I could never stay mad at you. Got it memorized?" he grinned leaning down to kiss her lips softly. Rose kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and held the kiss for a long time before pulling away again.

"I love you, Axel" she whispered softly. Axel grinned and held her gently, brushing the hair from her face.

"I love you, too. Now, go see your friend" he told her, helping her to her feet. Rose nodded and blew him a kiss before disappearing up the path. Axel watched her leave, a smile on his face. Deep down he knew she could handle herself out there, but it saddened him that she would soon no longer need him to protect her anymore.


	10. Chapter 9: Reunion

When Rose finally made it up to the path, she was unsure of where Sora had ended up. She paused and looked around the house, trying to see if there was some hidden place she hadn't seen. Rose hadn't really explored around her house before, so this was all new to her. She paused near the back of the house when she noticed a small crawl space hidden behind a bush.

Rose carefully got down on her hands and knees, crawling into the whole and followed the straight path. She stood up when she got to the end, marveling at the fact she had never seen this before. The room she had entered was a giant cave like area that was dark and damp. One thing that suddenly caught her eye was the giant doors that were there. Rose frowned, not believing she had never noticed this place before. She also wondered where the doors led as she would have clearly noticed doors on the side of a mountain.

Rose made her way over to the doors, examining it carefully to find a way to open it. She sighed when she couldn't figure it out, leaning up against the door as she slid down. Rose couldn't believe Sora was gone and she didn't know where he went. She assumed he had gone through this mysterious door, but there was no way of her knowing. Rose began to use the sandaled foot to play with the dirt when something shiny caught her eye.

She pushed the dirt aside and reached down to pick up a small charm that was on the ground. The charm was purple in color, appearing to be made of a sea shell or perhaps glass and it was shaped like a Papuo fruit. Rose's eyes filled with tears when she realized Sora had left this behind for her in case they missed each other.

"Sora" she whispered softly as the tears streamed down her face. Rose held the little charm close to her heart as she sobbed softly. A figure stepped in front of her, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up to see Xemnas standing over her. Rose quickly glanced away, a look of hurt in her eyes, "What do you want, father?" she said angrily.

"I came here to see if you were alright" he said, kneeling down beside her. Rose looked in his direction again, unsure if she heard him properly.

"What did you say?" she asked, straining her ears to hear his answer.

"I said, I came to see if you were alright. You look upset" Xemnas repeated, sitting down beside her. Rose shrugged and played with the charm in her hand, thinking about Sora.

"Well, let's see. You sent me on this mission in hopes I would befriend Sora and lead him into the path you wanted him to be in. I tried to stay away, but I couldn't. No matter how much I try to go against your plans I always end up going with them anyways" she suddenly blurted out, not believing she had just said that. Xemnas chuckled in amusement as he wrapped and arm around her shoulders.

"My dear daughter. I always look forward for you to mess with my plans. You make things more interesting. I'm sorry about your friend, but I have larger plans for him" he told her, placing a kiss on her head as he stood. "I'm sure he'll be back soon. You need to come home now, your mission is done" he said, holding out a hand to her. Rose glanced up and shook her head sadly, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve.

"I would rather stay here until he comes back. I'm worried about him" she said, helping herself up off the ground and dusted off her dress. Xemnas watched her for a moment, deciding whether or not to fight this, but he knew better. he nodded and turned away from her, his portal appearing in front of him.

"Very well, my child. I will see you another time then" he said before disappearing through the portal. Rose watched him leave before glancing down at her charm again. She then summoned her Keyblade and turned it over so she could clip it to the bottom.

Rose smiled and watched it dangle for a moment, before heading off in the direction of her house, Keyblade in hand. She knew with this charm that she would see him again. That she would see all her friends again one day.

A few months had past since she had seen her friends and she was starting to worry. Since the mission was over, Lexon had left her and went back to the castle. Rose hadn't seen Axel at all either since their fight and that was really starting to worry her. She walked out the front door, a book in one hand, a towel in the other. Rose wanted to relax after cleaning the entire house so she decided to have a swim.

As she made her way down the path to the beach, something caught her eye. She paused, realizing something about the area was different. The small island looked the same, but the main beach area looked like a tornado or an earthquake hit. The ground was split in a few places and there was spots where darkness seemed to have overtaken the area. Rose dropped the things she was carrying and pulled out her Keyblade, ready to fight if she had to.

A figure materialized on the shore line suddenly, wearing a white coat. He had similar hair color to Xemnas, but pulled back and much longer. Somewhere nearby, Sora appeared, his Keyblade firmly in his hand. Rose ducked behind a palm tree and watched them quietly, debating whether or not to help him. A hand suddenly touched her shoulder and she whipped around, coming face to face with Axel. Axel put his finger to his lips, signalling her to stay quiet.

"Don't interfere, Rose" he whispered quietly, ducking down behind the bush with her. Rose frowned and followed suit, crouching behind the bushes.

"Who is that? I've never seen him before" she whispered, moving closer to Axel so she wouldn't have to shout. Axel put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"That's Ansem. I'm not quite sure who he is yet, but I heard Lord Xemnas talking to him and he ordered him to attack Sora. I know this is hard for you to hear, but I need you to stay here. It's very important that for whatever reason you don't get involved, okay?" he said to her looking back in her direction. Rose sighed and nodded, hating that he would say something like that, but knew arguing would be pointless. Besides, she didn't want to fight with Axel anymore, she missed him.

"Alright, but I have a condition. If for any reason Ansem is about to kill him, I have to step in" she said, looking back at him. Axel nodded in agreement.

"Fine, but I know Sora is really strong. I doubt Ansem can beat him" he assured her.

They watched the fight for what seemed like several hours before Sora appeared to have defeated him. The figure named Ansem soon began floating away, disappearing behind the trees. Suddenly the ground began to shake as the palm trees began falling. Axel quickly grabbed Rose and took her away from the area, moving further down the path as a tree fell where they once were.

"Watch out, Rose!" he exclaimed, practically tripping as he let her down, using his body as a shield as he crouched over her. When the shaking stopped, the looked back over to the area where the trees were, the area now consumed by darkness. Rose and Axel looked back at each other before looking back again.

"What the hell happened?" she questioned him, unsure of what had just happened. Axel shrugged and knelt down beside her, brushing the sand from his clothes.

"No clue to be honest. Let's wait and see I guess" he said, watching her carefully. Rose nodded and summoned her Keyblade, the charm she had place on it reflecting light from the sunshine. Axel watched her and smiled. "Did Sora give you that?" he asked her. Rose glanced back at him and nodded.

"Yep, it's my good luck charm" she explained as she looked back in the direction of darkness. She watched as Sora charged into the darkness, the companions that he had with him, whom she now just noticed, unable to go inside with him. Rose bit her lip and waited, anxious to see what would happen. She secretly hoped her friend would be okay in there.

After a few moments, the ground suddenly began shaking again as Rose moved closer to Axel, trying to shield herself with him. Axel put his arms around her and held her closely until the shaking stopped. When they looked up, the forest was back to normal and Sora was nowhere to be found. Rose quickly pulled away from Axel and stood up, rushing towards the area Sora once was.

"Axel! Where did he go?!" she exclaimed, frantically looking for him. Axel walked over to her with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I have no clue, Rose. I'm sure he's fine, though! Hes a tough kid" he said, trying to calm her down. Rose paused and glanced over at him, a small smile on her face.

"I guess you're right. Sora was always great at getting out of situations. I hope he comes back soon!" she said. Axel nodded and put an arm around her, turning her away from the area as he led her back in the direction of the house.

"Come on, then. Let's get you something to eat" he said softly to her, placing a kiss on her head as he led her up the path. Rose paused to look back at the beach, a female figure standing there. Rose gasped when she realized it was Kairi, pulling away from Axel as she rushed over.

"Kairi!" she exclaimed. Kairi turned and watched, a smile on her face beginning to form as both girls met up. They both paused for a moment, looking at each other as they began to laugh happily, soon embracing each other in a tight hug.

"Rose! I haven't seen you in forever! How are you? Have you seen Sora?" she said. Rose nodded and glanced over at the patch of trees where Sora was last seen.

"I just saw him, but he disappeared into darkness with some guy named Ansem" she said grimly. Kairi glanced down at the ground as she pulled away from Rose, a sad look on her face.

"I haven't seen him at all. I also don't know who Ansem is, but I know Sora will come back real soon!" she assured her friend. Rose nodded in agreement as she glanced back at Axel, taking Kairi by the hand.

"Come with me! I want you to meet someone very special to me" she said as she pulled Kairi in Axel's direction. As soon as Axel was introduced to Kairi, both looked at each other as if they knew each other. Rose looked back and forth between them, a confused look on her face. "Uh, is everything alright?" she questioned. Axel shook his head, snapping out of it as he glanced back at her.

"Just fine, love. Let's get something to eat" he said enthusiastically as he wrapped an arm around each of them and led them up the path to Rose's house. It would be a few years before any of them would see Sora again after that day.

Meanwhile, back at the Organization, Xemnas had other plans of his own. He was planning to send some of the members of the Organization to Castle Oblivion to continue his plans to control Sora. Xemnas sat in his usual throne, surrounded by the others members excluding Axel whom he could not find for the moment.

"Welcome everyone! Thank you for joining me. I have a very important mission I need a few people for" he began explaining, "we are sending a few of you to Castle Oblivion to help further our plans to use Sora's members for a plan that I wish to remain secret for now. Do I have any volunteers or do I have to decide?" he said, glancing around the room. Everyone stayed silent, looking around at each other.

"I'll go" a voice said from beside him. Xemnas glanced over and saw his third in command Marluxia speak up for the first time. Xemnas nodded, clearly happy with his answer as he turned back to the others.

"Is there anyone else?" he asked. Axel suddenly appeared from a portal somewhere nearby, accompanied by Rose. Xemnas sat up in his seat as he watched them step forward in front of him.

"We'll go as well" Axel said, crossing his arms over his chest. Xemnas watched them carefully, unsure of how to respond to that. He knew in the back of his mind that they were up to something, but thought this might be a good idea. Though, he would only take one of them as they would more than likely get distracted by the mission.

"Fine, but only one of you can go" Xemnas responded, leaning against the side of this chair, a bored look on his face. Rose glanced up at Axel as if she was about to offer herself over, but he shook his head before she could say anything.

"I'll go" he offered, looking back in Xemnas' direction. Rose watched him sadly as she took his hand, causing him to glance back at her. "I can't let you do this mission. It could be really dangerous. You stay here and take care of things around here for me, okay?" Axel told her, taking both of her hands in his own. Rose nodded and glanced around the room, all eyes on her now.

"Fine, but I get to pick who goes with you" she said firmly, glancing back in her fathers direction. Xemnas glanced back at her dismissively.

"Very well. Who do you chose to go with Axel? You need to choose seven more members" he told her, watching her with an amused look on his face. He could not wait to see who she chose. Rose glanced around the room, a frown on her face. She needed to choose careful to make sure Axel didn't get hurt in all of this.

"Okay, um, Saix definitely since they're best friends. Larxene, Lexaeus, Xaldin, Vexen, Xigbar and" she paused to look around again, pausing her gaze on Zexion. Zexion nodded his heads as if to signal her to go ahead as he squeezed Rae's hand gently, "Zexion" Rose said finally. Rae moved to stand up in protest, but Zexion pulled her back, instantly calming her down.

"It's only fair if I go as well as Saix. Rose will be without her boyfriend for some time as well. It's only fair" he explained to her soothingly. Rae sighed and nodded, holding his hand tighter as she lay her head on his shoulder. Xemnas nodded, happy with the people she had chosen.

"Good choice my dear daughter. You will all be leaving tomorrow morning. Meeting is dismissed" he said, waving his hand dismissively. Everyone filled out the room one by one, Rae pushing past Rose a bit roughly as she glared back at the other girl, storming down the hallway. Zexion paused and placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her off to the side for the others to pass.

"Please forgive her, my friend. She is very upset right now. I think you made the right choice. I will protect Axel's life with my own" he assured her. Rose's eyes filled with tears as she hugged Zexion, tears freely falling as she sobbed into his shoulder. Zexion stood shocked for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back soothingly. Casaix appeared behind them, a sympathetic look on his face.

"Here, let me take her" he said softly, holding out his arms in their direction. Zexion gently pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes.

"Go to Casaix, okay? I need to go check on Rae. I'll be back later to spend time with you. I promise" he assured her as he placed a kiss on her wet cheek. He gently wiped some tears away with his sleeve and turned her towards Casaix before heading down the hall in the direction Rae had disappeared. Rose sniffled and wrapped her arms around Casaix, holding on to him tightly.

"Oh, Casaix. I can't deal with this anymore" she sobbed, hugging him tighter. Casaix looked down at her sadly, pulling her close to him.

"Shh, it's going to be okay, dear. Come, let's go sit with Axel in the library" he said softly as he pulled away, wrapping an arm around her waist as he led her down the hall to the library. Casaix paused and opened the door, leading her inside to where her friends were, excluding Rae who was nowhere to be found.

"Come here, Rose" Axel said softly, holding out his arms in her direction. Rose walked over to him and crawled on to his lap, burying her face in his hair. Axel wrapped his arms around her as he rubbed her back soothingly, resting his head on top of hers. He glanced around the room, waiting for someone to say something to help her calm down. Lexon stood up and put his cigarette out in the tray before walked over and knelt down in front of him.

"Hey, you're going to be fine. He won't be gone long and Sora's going to be fine too, okay?" he said. Axel looked at him in shock, not believing he had said that out loud, looking at him with an annoyed look on his face. Rose looked up from Axel's shoulder, squinting her eyes to make sure she heard him right.

"What about Sora? What is actually going on here?" she sat up, looking around the room. Everyone looked at each other, but no one said a word. Axel put his hand behind her head and pushed her head back down gently on to his shoulders.

"It' just a stupid experiment Xemnas wants to do. He just wants to test Sora's abilities that's all. He will not get hurt we promise you" he assured her, running a hand through her hair. Rose sighed softly and closed her eyes.

"Fine, but if Sora gets hurt I'm going to kick all of your butts" she warned, opening one eye to glare at them. Lexon rolled his eyes as he stood up, roughly her hair gently.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll still be here when you want to hang out" he said as he made his way to the doorway, "I'll even quit smoking til they get back if that will make you feel better" Lexon added as he disappeared out the door, closing it behind him. Rose sat up now, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve as she sniffled.

"You guys are the best, you know that? Sorry I'm such a pain in the tush" she said, looking around at all her friends. Casaix smiled and moved so he was beside her and Axel, placing a hand over hers.

"We're always here for you when you need it. I can assure you that you are not a pain, but a pleasure to be around" he said, squeezing her hand gently. Rose smiled and leaned over to hug him, moving so she was squeezed in between him and Axel.

"You guys want to watch a movie? I think we should invite everyone before they have to leave tomorrow" she suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement and stood up, heading to the door. They made their way down the hallway when Rose paused, something catching her by the sleeve. She turned to see Rae standing there, looking down at the ground shyly.

"I'm really sorry for pushing you. I was just really angry with what you did by picking Zexion. I totally get it now, though. You picked people who you could trust to protect Axel" she said, looking back up to Rose, a small smile on her face, "can I come to the movie too?" Rae said, waiting for Rose's answer. Rose smiled and put an arm around her friends shoulders, leading her down the hallway.

"Of course you can come! After all your boyfriend is also leave" she assured her friends as they made their way down the hall to the living room. Rose led Rae inside as she looked around, happy that everyone was gathered there. Rose led Rae over to where Zexion was, helping her into her seat as she made her way over to sit between Axel and Saix. She glanced over at her sister who already had a bowl of popcorn on her lap.

"You're not mad at me are you for choosing Saix, are you?" she asked. Okami glanced over, a mouth full of popcorn.

"What? No! I totally get it. Saix is the best fighter here so I know he can keep Axel said" she replied in a muffled voice, giving her a thumbs up. Rose laughed softly and reached over to steal a handful, sitting back in her seat. Axel pulled out a Popsicle from behind his hand and held it out to her.

"One more before I go?" he asked, a grin on his face. Rose took the Popsicle and smiled, taking a bite as she leaned her head against his shoulder. She was going to miss him, but she knew he was going to be safe.


	11. Chapter 10: Three Hearts Become One

Around two am in the morning is when everyone ended up going to bed that night. There was lots of laughs and lots of tears that night, but everyone would be alright. Rose and Axel were the last to leave, trying to spend as much time as they could with each other after being apart for so long then having to do it all over again. Rose was about to head out the door when someone caught her sleeve. She paused and turned to look back, a hooded figure about her height had caught onto her sleeve.

"Excuse me? Are you Rose?: they asked, pulling down their hood with one hand. The person standing in front of her was in fact a boy about sixteen or seventeen years of age with light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Rose turned to the boy, watching him intently. Something about him reminded her of someone.

"I'm Rose, yes! Who are you?" she asked, examining his face further. The boy smiled and let go of her sleeve, bowing respectfully towards her.

"My name is Roxas. Your father asked me to seek you out for training" he replied quietly. Rose frozen when she realized who he reminded her of. He reminded her of her friend Ventus whom she hadn't seen in years. Her eyes began to fill with tears at the thought. She quickly reached up and wiped them away, Roxas looking at her with a confused look on his face.

"Sorry! You just look a lot like someone I use to know" she said, sniffling as she wiped the tears and looked back at him with a smile, "of course I can help you! We can start training first thing tomorrow after the guys leave" Rose assure him. Roxas nodded and was about to say something else, but Axel appeared in the doorway at that moment.

"Hey gurl, you coming?" he asked, his eyes shifting in Roxas' direction, "Oh hey, Roxas! Glad you found her. She's a great teacher" he assured the boy. Rose smiled and held out a hand to Roxas.

"Here, come with us. I'll try to help you find your room" she said. Roxas smiled and took her hand, letting her lead him out of the room and down the hallway. Rose paused for a moment, now realizing she had no idea where his room was.

"Is everything okay?" Roxas asked, tilting his head to the side as he watched her. Rose shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yea. I just realized I have no idea where your room is! It's fine though you can stay in mine for now and I'll stay with Axel" she assured him with a smile. Roxas nodded as he was led into a room nearby, pausing to look around.

"Wow! This room is so big" he said in awe. Rose giggled and glanced over at Axel who was waiting patiently outside the door.

"Go on ahead, I'll be there in a second" she assured him. Axel nodded and touched her cheek before heading in the direction of his room. Rose turned her attention to Roxas who was now by the window admiring the moon. The moon in the Town That Never Was was very unique. Her father called it Kingdom Hearts, probably because it was a kingdom and it was shaped like a heart she guessed. Rose walked over to him and touched his arm gently, causing him to jump slightly

"Oh, sorry! You scared me. Are you sure this is okay? I don't want to intrude" he told her softly as he turned in her direction. Rose smiled and nodded, helping him out of his hooded jacket.

"It's totally fine! Im sure if we're out of rooms father will just let me stay in Axel's while hes gone and you can stay here" she said as she hung up his jacket near the door. Roxas nodded and stretched his arms up over his head and yawned.

"Thanks, Rose. I'll see you in the morning then?" he said, looking over at Rose who was now by the doorway. Rose nodded and smiled, giving him a small wave.

"Sleep well!" she said, disappearing out the door and closing it behind her. Rose sighed softly and began heading down the hall to Axel's room, thinking about the boy Roxas she had just met. Could Roxas be Ventus? She didn't want to ask him for fear he would shy away from her so she decided to leave it for now. Rose paused in front of Axel's door, realizing it was slightly opened. She peered inside and didn't see Axel in there, but heard a voices from the washroom.

"Axel, are you sure we want to do this? Are you sure we want to leave Rose practically alone with Xemnas?" the first voice said, Rose realizing it was Saix. Rose moved closer into the room so she could see them. Axel sighed and unzipped his jacket, tossing it on to a nearby chair.

"She'll be fine. She's stronger than she looks. Besides, she has her sister to help protect her" he assured him as he turned to look at him once again.

"Are you sure about that? She was known to be on Xehanort's side in the past. What makes you think anything has changed? He's really good at manipulation people" he replied, touching Axel's arm. Axel's eyes softened as he reached over to touch his cheek, leaning forward to place a kiss on Saix's forehead.

"You worry too much. Everything is going to be fine. Rose will more than likely be too busy to even be around here enough to even have to worry about Xemnas or Okami trying to mess with her" he said softly. As she strained to hear the conversation, Rose leaned a bit too far on the door and fell forward, landing on the ground with a loud thud. Axel and Saix glanced in her direction with a shocked expression on their faces.

"How long have you been standing there?" Saix questioned as he went over to help her up. Rose rolled her eyes in amusement as she accepted an arm up.

"Long enough to see Axel kiss you. Is there something I don't know about?" she teased, looking at both of them. Axel's face reddened at the comment, laughing nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I'm going to be honest. Before I met you and Saix met Okami, we were kind of together back then. I hope that doesn't upset you" he said, waiting for her reaction. Rose looked from Saix to Axel and back again, her grin spreading wider.

"That is so adorable! I kind of knew something was up between you two, but I could never bring myself to ask! I didn't mess anything up did I?" she asked, a look of concern on her face. Saix and Axel looked at each other, smiles on their faces.

"Not at all! We just decided to be friends because we didn't want to ruin our great relationship. We just sometimes reminisce about our time together, that's all. I assure you there is nothing going on between us" he said placing a hand on her shoulder. Rose laughed gently and wrapped an arm around each of their wastes.

"I don't mind if there still is! I don't mind sharing Axel" she teased, a grin on her face. Axel and Saix both looked at each other, their cheeks growing bright red at her comment.

"Do you mind if I stay here for the night, then? Okami is spending the night in Casaix's room and I don't like sleeping alone" Saix said, laughing nervously. Rose's grin grew wider as she led them over to the bed, pausing when she realized the bed was only made for one person, possibly too.

"I know!" she suddenly said as she let go off their waists before heading out the door for a moment, coming back a few short minutes later with an arm full of blankets and pillows. "We can just make a bed on the floor for all of us like we use to when we were younger!" she said, dropping them on the floor as she began pilling the blankets to make a makeshift bed on the floor. Axel glanced in Saix's direction, Saix with an amused look on his face.

"She really is something, isn't he?" Axel said softly, wrapping an arm around Saix's shoulders as he pulled him closer. Saix smiled and wrapped an arm around Axel's waist as they watched Rose work, a determined look on her face.

"Yea, I'm really glad to have met her and am grateful for letting me be here tonight. I miss it being just all three of us together. Back then things weren't complicated at all, especially with relationships. Okami seems to have become very distance from me and it worries me" he said quietly. Axel looked in his direction, a sad look on his face as he leaned to press his lips against the top of Saix's head who was only a few inches shorter than him.

"Everything will be okay. I'm sure she's just going through a faze" he whispered softly as he pulled him closer, "You have Rose and I again now if anything were to happen, okay? Got it memorize" Axel said, turning Saix towards him so they were facing. Saix looked him in the eyes, a smile om his face. As they leaned towards each other, Rose came up beside them, a grin on her face.

"You two make the cutest couple!" she suddenly exclaimed, snapping them out of their own world. Both men pulled away quickly, causing Rose to giggle at their reaction, "Don't stop on my account! I'll just looked away while you kiss" she joked. Axel rolled his eyes at her, leaning back towards Saix as he placed a soft kiss on his lips before pulling away,allowing himself to give her this before he left for a while.

"Let's get some sleep now" he said softly, leading them both over to the makeshift bed, laying down closest to the bed so she could be between both of them. Rose shrugged off her jacket as she crawled in between both men, tugging on Axel's shirt so he would move closer, thankful he did. Before closing her eyes, she looked at both men, a smile on her face.

"I love you guys" she whispered softly as she soon closed her eyes, falling asleep faster than she anticipated. From the doorway, Okami stood there watching the scene before her. She clenched her fist and was about to step inside, but was interrupted by Xemnas who shook his head in her direction.

"Do not misplace your anger, my child. Your sister is a very valuable asset to this Organization. If she does stray too far, then you may do something. In the meantime please control your anger" he told her, turning her away from the door. Okami glanced back and nodded, sighing softly.

"Yes, father. I apologize" she said quietly. Xemnas chuckled and draped an arm around her shoulders, leading her in the direction of her bedroom.

"All is well" he assured her, pausing to lead her inside before closing the door behind her. Xemnas then turned on his heels, heading in the direction of his own room where Xyle was waiting for him.

"Took you long enough" Xyle said, pushing himself off the wall as Xemnas approached. Xemnas glared in his direction, ignoring the tone Xyle had in his voice.

"I had matters to take care of. Be sure to keep a watchful eye on the ones going to the castle. If there are strays let me know and I will have Axel deal with them or I will do it myself" he told him as he disappeared through the doorway, closing the door behind him. Xyle turned to leave, noticing Casaix standing somewhere nearby, watching him.

"Don't worry, Cas. I won't hurt your little girlfriend. No promises for her little friends though if they get in the way of Xemnas' plans" he said, grinning as he turned the other direction, heading to his own room.

The next morning, the chosen members and their loved ones gathered in the throne room to say goodbye to each other. Normally Xemnas would not allowed this as it disrupts things, but he felt this time he would be more lenient because his daughter was present. The only person who did not show up that day was Okami, she had disappeared that night after spending the night with Xyle and wasn't seen since.

"I'm going to miss both of you so much" Rose said quietly, holding Axel and Saix by the hand. Both men smile and wrapped an arm each around her waist, pulling her into a group hug. Both placed a kiss on the top of her head as they smiled sadly.

"We'll be back for you, we promise! You can't keep us away that easily" Saix assured her, ruffling her hair playfully. Rose rolled her eyes and smiled at them before pulling away.

"Now both of you scoot before I change my mind!" she said teasingly as she took a few steps back. Axel nodded and made his way over to Xemnas, followed by Saix. Rose turned her attention to Rae and Zexion who were locked in a tight embrace, Rae appearing to be crying. She frowned and debated whether or not to go over there, quickly deciding against it. At that moment, Rae glanced up, motioning for her to come over.

"Come here, Rose" she said softly, holding out an arm to her as she held onto Zexion with the other. Rose went over to them and wrapped an arm each around them, a sad look in her eyes.

"I am so sorry, guys. I can go in Zexion's place if you want, Rae" she told her friend. Rae sniffled and shook her head, holding both of them closer.

"I can't let you do that. I know Zexion will be just fine!" she assured her, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Zexion looked in her direction, a sad look in his eyes. Rose looked back at him, a knowing look in her eyes. She knew not all of them would return from the Castle, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She just hoped her friends would make it back, especially Axel, Saix and Zexion.

"We should get going" Zexion finally said, breaking the silence. He leaned down to place a kiss on Rae's lips, turning to place one on Rose's head before heading over to stand next to Axel. Rose stood back with the others as they watched quietly, a portal appearing in front of them as they stepped through, leaving Rose, Casaix and Rae standing there with Xemnas. Xemnas turned his attention to them, nodding.

"You may leave now, or stay if you wish. Just remember your missions for today" he told them as he left the room. Rose glanced from Rae to Casaix and back again, Roxas having now appeared in the doorway, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Everything okay, Rose? I heard commotion and I came to see what's up" he said. Rose turned her attention to Roxas, a smile on her face.

"All is well, let's go get some breakfast then start on your training" she told him, leading him out the door as she glanced back at Casaix and Rae who were talking closely together.

Rose led Roxas into the dining hall, the room suddenly feeling empty now that there was barely any people left there. The only people left in the castle now were Rose, Okami(if she ever showed up again), Demyx, Roxas, Rae, Casaix, Lexon, Xyle, Xathoms and of course Xemnas. She made her way over to where Demyx was sitting by himself, taking a seat beside him as Roxas sat down across from her.

"Hey! I don't think we've met. My name's Rose" she said, holding out a hand to him. Demyx glanced up from his food, watching her quietly.

"Hey, I'm Demyx. I'm surprised you're even talking to me. Everyone else usually just ignores me" he said gently. Rose frowned and pushed his arm playfully.

"Well, I've never seen you around! Then again, I haven't been around much myself either to notice anything if I'm being honest. But, now that I've met you, you can say you have a friend!" she said, patting him on the back. Demyx smiled and turned back to his food.

"Good to know, thanks" he replied. Rose smiled and stood up, motioning for Roxas to stay as she walked over to get them some food. She came back a few moments later with a little of everything because she wasn't sure what he liked. Roxas looked over at her, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks" he said softly as he picked a few items from the trays, beginning to eat them. Rose watched him with a smile, happy she could help out where she could. Lexon walked over to their table and at down on the other side of Rose.

"What's happening? Miss your man yet?" he asked her. Rose rolled her eyes at him, chucking a piece of egg at him.

"That's a dumb question, Lex. Of course I miss him!" she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Lexon chuckled and put an arm around her.

"Well I can keep you warm at night if you feel lonely" he joked. Rose pulled away from him quickly, almost knocking Demyx from his chair.

"Let's just not have that conversation, okay? I'm suddenly not hungry anymore. Roxas I'll see you in the training room when you're done" she told him as she touched the top of his head gently as she passed, making her way out the door. Roxas watched her leave quietly, his spoon hanging from his mouth.

"Is there something between the two of you I don't know about? That seemed really intense" he said, glancing back in Lexon's direction. Lexon shrugged and took a sip of coffee, reaching for his cigarette's to light one, pausing for a moment before setting them back down again.

"I don't know, but she totally has a thing for me" he joked to Roxas, winking. Deep down, he knew he liked her a lot more than he would ever tell anyone, but he would keep it to himself for the time being. He knew she was with Axel and would wait for as long as he needed to, to finally tell her how he felt. 


	12. Chapter 11: Why The Sun Sets Red

Rose spent several days teaching Roxas how to fight and how to use his Keyblade to free the hearts from the Heartless. She was surprised at how quickly he learned things, very impressed by his progress. She thought of Axel and how he must have felt watching her and Okami. He must have been so proud of them. Rose felt a sadness deep inside her grow as she watched Roxas, suddenly missing Axel a lot. She had not thought about him for a while because she knew it would make her sad he was not around so she had focused her attention to Roxas instead.

"Hey are you alright?" a voice said from somewhere nearby, interrupting her thoughts. Rose turned to the direction the voice was coming from, locking eyes with Roxas' own bright blue ones. Rose smiled sadly and shook her head dismissively.

"I'm fine, it's nothing you have to worry about. I don't want to trouble you with my problems" she said softly. Roxas walked over to her and took her hand in his own.

"You're my friend and you've already done so much for me. Your problems are my problems, okay?" he said softly, dismissing his Keyblade so he could hold both her hands. Rose watched him sadly as her eyes began to fill with tears.

"I just really miss Axel right now. I was pushing the feelings away by focusing my attention to you and your training, but watching you made me think of Axel and how he felt when he was training me and my sister. I'm sorry for being such a wreck" she sobbed softly. Roxas let go of one of her hands and reached up to wipe away a tear.

'Please don't cry. Axel will be just fine, okay? I'm here for you and so are all our other friends. If you need to talk about it I'm here. I will never leave you, I promise" he said, pulled her towards him and hugged her gently. Rose sobbed softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder.

"Thank you, Roxas. This means so much to me" she said softly, pulling back a little so she could look at him. Roxas smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes with his sleeve.

"Even when crying you look so beautiful" he suddenly blurted out. Rose blinked a couple of times, trying to make sure she heard him right as she pulled away from him slowly. Roxas paused as he realized what he said, a light blush spreading on his cheeks.

"I am so sorry. I did not mean to say that out loud. Please forgive me!" he said, watching her carefully. Rose watched him for a moment, a grin slowly spreading on her face.

"I mean, I know I'm irresistible, but you too? What makes me so special?" she chuckled to herself. Roxas took her hand again and pulled her over so she was facing him again.

"You are an amazing and kind person that's why everyone likes you. No matter who they are you make them feel special and wanted. That's why I like you, not because your pretty or anything, but because you have a kind heart" he explained, tightening his grip on her hand gently. Rose looked at him and smiled, taking both of his hands in her own again.

"You are too sweet, Roxas. No one has ever said anything like that to me before. I feel honored to call you my friend and hope you feel the same" she said, leaning closer to place a kiss on his cheek. Roxas smiled and turned her face towards him, seeming like he was about to kiss her on the lips, but instead placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Come on, there's some place I want to show you" he said as he took her hand and led her away. Rose followed after him, curious on where he was taking her. They paused when they got to a train station, Rose tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"A train station? Why did you want to show me a train station?" she questioned, looking in his direction. Roxas chuckled and shook his head, pulling her forward, heading to an area around the side of the train station.

"Come" he said simply, leading her up a set of stairs. They finally got to the top and he opened a door, walking out onto a balcony type area and led her out. Rose gasped and stopped for a moment, taking in what she was seeing. They were now on top of the train station, but they were now in front of the clock at the very top. The view from up there allowed them to see everything below and it was absolutely breath taking. Roxas interrupted her thoughts by gently guiding her over to the ledge and helped her sit down.

"Roxas, this is beautiful. How did I not notice this before?" she said quietly, glancing in his direction. Roxas shrugged and put his hands behind his back, two ice creams appearing in each of his hands. In his hands he now had two Sea Salt Ice Creams, one of which he handed to her.

"In case you're wondering why I brought you here, Axel asked me to take you here. Before we met he showed me this place and made me promise to take care of you. He wanted to take you here himself, but he didn't have the time" he explained as Rose took the ice cream from him. Rose smiled sadly, taking a bite of her ice cream. She couldn't believe how thoughtful Axel was even though he wasn't around right now.

"This is my new favorite spot now. We should come here every day after training or missions and have ice cream!" she said, a bright smile on her face now. Roxas chuckled and took a bite of his ice cream, looking over towards the setting sun.

"Funny that you mention it, Axel did the same for me. He would take me here and treat me to this stuff. That's so weird that it works out that way, huh?" he said, looking back at her. Rose nodded and took another bite of her ice cream, looking out into the distance as the sun began to set.

"Bet you don't know why the sun sets red" she suddenly said, looking over at Roxas who now had a confused look on his face. Rose chuckled and looked back over at the sun, "You see, light is made up of lots of colors and out of all those colors, red is the one that travels the farthest" she explained, quoting what Axel had told her perfectly one day when they had watched the sun set on Destiny Island.

"Huh" was all Roxas said to that, turning his attention back to the setting sun. They sat there for a few moments as they finished their ice cream, enjoying each others company. When it started to get dark is when they finally got up and made their way down the stairs. Rose paused to toss the stick into the trash, but stopped when she saw something written on it. She glanced down and noticed the words 'Winner' printed on it.

"Roxas? What does this mean? I've never seen this before" she told him, showing the stick to him. Roxas took the stick from her, an amused smile on his face.

"It means you won a free ice cream! The lady who sold it to me said if it says 'winner' the prize is another ice cream, but I couldn't eat more than one" he explained to her, handing it back to her. Rose nodded and put the stick into her pocket, deciding to save it for when Axel got back.

After getting back, Roxas and Rose decided to have dinner before they went to bed. They were both exhausted from the mission that day and were thankful they had a day off tomorrow. Rose reached for her tray of food when she got a tug on her sleeve. She turned to see Rae standing there, a letter in her hand.

"This is for you from Axel. You just missed him" she said softly, handing her the letter. Rose paused to take the letter and thanked Rae before heading to her usual table with Demyx and Roxas. She sat down and put the letter on the table, deciding to read it when she was alone. Roxas glanced over at her, a look of confusion on his face.

"What's that? Is there something wrong?" he asked, trying to figure out what she had put down. Rose smiled and picked up the letter, showing him the envelope.

"I letter from Axel. I was going to read it later in my room alone, but I think I'd like you there with me if that's okay?" she said quietly. Roxas smiled and nodded, touching the top of her hand gently.

"Of course! I would love to" he assured her, pulling his hand away again. Rose smiled and put the letter in her pocket before starting on her dinner. When they were done, they made their way down the hall, stopping when Casaix appeared in front of them.

"Rose! Are you alright? I heard Axel was here" he said, a look of concern on her face. Rose looked up at him, touched that he was concerned about her.

"I'm fine! Apparently he was just here to give me a letter. I'm going to read it with Roxas right now. Thank you for the concern, friend" she said lovingly as she hugged Casaix before pulling away and heading back down the hall. Casaix watched her leave, Lexon appearing in the doorway of his own bedroom.

"If you're trying to get her, your going to be in for a long fight. She clearly has a thing for me" he said cockily, leaning against the door frame as he smoke his usual cigarette. Casaix glanced in his direction, a confused look on his face.

"What makes you think I have feelings for her? Am I not allowed to be concerned for my friend?" he asked Lexon. Lexon shrugged and took a drag from his cigarette.

"There's a difference between concern and pining for someone. You my dear sir are pining" he told him, a grin on his face. Casaix rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You should be the one to talk. You're always following her around and dropping hints every time you see her. She's let you down on several occasions, yet you still persist" he reminded Lexon, a look of amusement on his face. Lexon practically dropped his cigarette at his comment, quickly recovering and acting as if nothing happened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" he said as he backed into his room and closed the door. Casaix chuckled softly and glanced back down the hallway, noticing that Rose was no longer there. He sighed softly and ran a hand through his bangs, reaching up to pull out his elastic as he left his dark hair fall down his shoulders.

"Looking handsome as always" a voice said somewhere behind him. Casaix turned around to see Xathoms standing there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Casaix chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

"Um, thanks" he said softly, unsure of how to respond. Xathoms pushed himself from the wall and strolled over to him, brushing a hand across his cheek to tuck the stray hair behind his ear.

"I like that look on you. It suits you" he told him as he passed, not saying another word as he wandered down the hallway. Casaix watched him go, a look of shock on his face. Did Xathoms just flirt with him or was he just being nice? He wasn't sure. He shook his head and turned in the direction of his room that happened to be across from Lexon's and went in, locking the door behind him.

Rose closed the door behind her when Roxas entered, closing it soon after. She didn't want to be disturbed when she read the letter. She nodded in the direction of her bed as she made her way over to the screen to change.

"Get comfortable, I'll be right back" she told him as she disappeared behind it. Rose soon emerged wearing her favorite red silk pajamas that Axel had give her. She walked over to the bed and sat down, noticing Roxas was still in his regular clothes. Roxas glanced down and then back at her.

"Oh, umm. Could I borrow a pair of pajamas?" he asked her, blushing in embarrassment. Rose giggled and reached into her drawer beside her bed, pulling out a pair of blue pajama bottoms and a t shirt.

"Here, Axel kept this in case I didn't want to go back to my room" she told him, handing them over. Roxas nodded and went to change, coming back over to her a moment later, having changed, but excluded the t-shirt. Rose watched him quietly, admiring how well toned he was for such a young teenager.

"Earth to Rose" he said, waving a hand in front of her face. Rose shook her head as she snapped out of it, glancing back at his face.

"Oh, sorry! Just deep in thought that's all. I'm surprised you didn't put the t-shirt on, it gets really cold in here" she told him. Roxas chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders, using his other arm to pull the blankets up over their legs.

"Don't worry about me. I'm sure you can keep me warm" he joked, causing her to blush horribly. Rose glanced away for a moment before turning her attention to the letter on the side table. She reached over and sighed softly, using the tip of her nail to open it. Rose pulled the letter from the envelope and swallowed before reading it's contents.

_'Dear Rose,_

_I hope you are doing well without me. I'm sure you are, you have Roxas there and your friends to take care of you. I heard Roxas took you to the place I wanted to take you. I'm glad. When I come back, that will be our special spot together. Roxas can come too if he wants, I don't mind. He seems like a really nice guy and I know he would be a good friend to you. I miss you a lot even if it's only been a few days and I hope to see you soon. I just wanted to leave you with something that I thought about(or maybe I heard from somewhere?):_

_Thinking of you, wherever you are_  
_We pray for our sorrows to end,_  
_and hope that our hearts will blend._

_Now I will step forward to realize this wish._  
_And who knows,_  
_Starting a new journey may not be so hard,_  
_or maybe it has already begun._

_There are many worlds,_  
_but they share the same sky_  
_one sky, one destiny._

_I love you so much Rose and I hope to one day have you as my wife. I will visit soon. Got it memorized?_

_Love, Axel.'_

Rose's face was completely covered in tears when she finished reading the letter. Roxas already having his arms around her in comfort, knowing she would be like this after reading it. In the short time he's known her, he knew how much she cared about Axel. Rose glanced over at Roxas who had a concerned look on his face.

"I'm sorry for being such a baby" she sniffled, using her sleeve to wipe her tears from her face. Roxas smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Don't worry about it. I know how much you miss him. I think it's time for us to get some sleep. Do you want me to stay here for the night or go back to my room?" he questioned her, brushing the hair that had clung to her face away. Rose shook her head and burried her face into his shoulder.

"Please stay" she said, her voice breaking again. Roxas wrapped his arms around her and go them into a laying positing, moving her so her head was on his chest as he stroked her hair. To anyone on the outside world this would look like something other than it was, but Roxas knew he was just there to comfort his friend. A light knock on the door interrupted their thoughts. Roxas sat up, motioning for her to stay where she was as he made his way over to the door.

"Who is it?" he called out, summoning his Keyblade. There silence at the door, making him worry more. Roxas moved so his ear was close to the door, listening as he spoke again, "I'm not opening the door until you tell me who is it" he warned.

"It's Lexon. I just came to see if Rose was okay" Lexon said from behind the door. Roxas glanced over at Rose who was already on her way over. He waited for her to respond before he did anything. She motioned with her head to unlock the door. Roxas nodded and unlocked the door, opening it slowly. Lexon was standing there, a cup of something in his hand. "I can see now that she's already got that covered. I'll be going then" he said, backing away from the door. Rose reached over past Roxas and took him by the wrist.

"You don't have to go. Please stay" she said, looking up at him. Lexon turned to look at her again, a small smile on his face as he handed her the cup in his hand.

"I made you hot chocolate. I knew it was your favorite" he said softly. Rose smiled and took it from him, backing up a bit so he could come in. Roxas put his arm around her protectively, moving her aside to make room for Lexon to walk in before closing the door again. Rose glanced over at Roxas and smiled, enjoying the fact he was overprotective of her, as she took a sip of the hot chocolate.

"Thank you, this is great" she said as she let Roxas lead her back over to the bed. She curled back up beside him as Lexon sat down on the bed, watching them carefully. Rose glanced over at him and smiled. "I really appreciate both of you being here for me, thank you" she said.

"Our pleasure" Lexon said as her glanced over at Roxas who was holding on to her protectively still. Roxas looked back at him, eye brow raised, as if he was daring him to say or do anything. Lexon rolled his eyes and stood up, leaning over to place a kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you later, kid" he said softly as he pulled away. Rose watched him leave quietly, unsure of what to say to him.

"I'll see you later, Lexon. I love you my dear friend" she said to him as he paused at the door. Lexon glanced back at her, a grin on his face as he backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Lexon made his way down towards his bedroom again, pausing when Xyle stepped out in front of him.

"I wouldn't get too close to her. You're just going to get hurt" he warned him, watching him carefully. Lexon looked him in the eyes for a moment before rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"You don't know what you're talking about. She totally had a thing for me, she just doesn't know it yet" he told him as he pushed passed him. Xyle moved aside so he could pass, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't say I didn't warn you" he told him before disappearing again down the hallway. Lexon watched him leave and shook his head. He would not let Xyle get to him or inside his head. He knew in the back of his mind there was something forming between them and he would not stop until he got what he wanted.

The next few days were spent trying to forget how big of a baby she had been around Roxas. She knew he was suppose to be there for her, but she still felt bed putting him through that. Rose sat by herself on the top of their usual spot above the train station, Roxas having gone on a mission with Demyx this time so she had been alone, eating her usual ice cream. Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out her 'winner' stick, hoping Axel would come home soon.

"I see you actually won. How long have you had that in your pocket?" a voice said from behind her. Rose glanced over and gasped, realizing Axel was standing behind her. She quickly stood up, almost slipping and falling, but Axel taught her just in time, pulling her close to him. "Did you miss me?" he said, a large grin on his face. Rose looked up at him, stunned for a moment before she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Axel, what are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission" she said, not believing he was actually here. Axel placed a hand on top of her head, a smile on his face.

"Well, I came to see you. I hope that's okay" he said softly. Rose looked up at him, tears of happiness in her eyes.

"Of course! I loved the poem you wrote me. It was beautiful" she said, leaning up on her tippy toes to kiss him softly. Axel pulled her closer, kissing her back. They stood there for a few moments before pulling away, Axel helping her back down as he sat beside her.

"I'm glad you liked it my dear. I've just been very busy with the mission so I've had no time to think or do much" he said, running his hand through his hair, unsure how to tell her the bad news, "Vexen and Larxene didn't make it. Sora fought them and they sort of vanished" Axel explained. Rose glanced over at him in shock.

"Wait, Sora?" she said, standing up quickly, "Axel, tell me what is going on right now" she ordered him. Axel sighed and took her hand, pulling her on to his lap so he could hold her while he explained.

"Okay, so long story short. Xemnas sent us to Castle Oblivion to help Sora along so he could collect his memories. Not sure what for yet, but I only went along with it so I could protect Sora. Vexen and Larxene wouldn't listen and attacked Sora that's why they're not here anymore" he told her. Rose looked at him in shock, trying to make sense of what he was telling her.

"So, Sora is killing them in self defense after they attacked him. Okay, so how did you manage to get out? I'm sure Sora was pretty angry when he no doubt found out about what Xemnas was planning" she said, a confused look on her face. Axel ran a hand through her hair, a small smile on his face.

"I faked my death so I could watch Sora more closely and come to see you" he explained, holding her closer to him. Rose sighed and put her head against his chest, enjoying the attention she was getting from him.

"Well, now we know Sora can defend himself" she said softly, closing her eyes slowly, "the problem is now, I'm afraid hes going to hurt my friends. I mean, I'm sure he's not stupid enough to hurt any of them if he has to, but I still worry" she said softly. Axel sighed and held her closer, resting his head on top of hers.

"If you want I can take you to see them if you're that worried. Though if things get too dangerous you're coming right back out of there, okay?" he said firmly. Rose looked up at him and nodded.

"Deal! When do we leave?" she said, suddenly getting up. Axel chuckled and stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"We can go tomorrow, dear. Don't you want to spend time with me?" he said, pulling her close. Rose smiled and leaned up to kiss him again, enjoying the fact he was here with her now.

"Of course I do! I just got really excited, I'm sorry. Please forgive me" she whispered. Axel grinned and held her close, leading her to the exit.

"Well, there's one way you can show me how much you missed me" he said, winking. Rose blushed and leaned against them as they walked.

"I'm sure I can help with that" she assured him, a small smile on her face. As they walked, a figure appeared from nearby, watching them closely as they passed. The figure lowered their hood when they were out of sight, their light pink hair flowing around their shoulders, revealing Marluxia.

"It appears we have a traitor among us. I must let Xemnas know at once" he said to himself, turning towards the portal that appeared, soon disappearing through it.


	13. Chapter 12: Darkness

When they got back to the base, Xemnas was there waiting for them, arms crossed over his chest. Rose paused for a moment, trying to figure out what she could have done to upset him. Then again, it didn't take much with her.

"Hello daughter" he said curtly, turning his attention to Axel, "I'm going to assume you have a good reason for leaving the castle without telling anyone?" Xemnas snapped, his eyes daggers. Axel rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

"I was actually coming to see you, Lord Xemnas. We have a traitor in the castle" he started to explain. Xemnas held up a hand, signaling for him to stop what he was doing.

"I already know about it, Axel" he said boredly, "Marluxia already told me how you had planned on taking over the Organization and trying to ruin my plans. You know what happens to traitors who go against me" he said as he lowered his arms, clenching his fist. A moment later, a ball of darkness began to form in his hand as he raised his hand in Axel's direction.

"Father, no!" Rose exclaimed, pushing Axel aside as the darkness came in her direction, knocking her in the chest and sent her sliding across the floor.

"Rose!" Axel exclaimed in horror as he rushed over to her. He knelt down beside her and rest her head on his lap, "Rose! Wake up" he said, his voice quavering as his eyes filled with tears. Xemnas took a step towards them, unable to say a word as he crouched down next to him.

"I did not mean for that to happen. That was meant for you not her" he said coldly as he watched them. Axel's tears flowed down his cheeks as he looked up at Xemnas angrily.

"You better find a way to fix this, if not you're next!" he spat. Xemnas sighed and stood up, turning his back to Axel.

"Come with me, I have a way to fix this" he said as he made his way towards the portal that had appeared nearby. Axel lifted her limp body, holding Rose's body close as he followed Xemnas through the portal. They appeared on the other side, now in a white room. Xemnas made his way over to the middle of the room, the entire room empty except for a throne. "Place her here" he told Axel, pointing in the direction of the throne. Axel glared at him as he did as he was told, gently setting her down in a sitting position.

"How is a throne suppose to help? You blasted her with pure darkness!" he spat. Xemnas rolled his eyes and pulled Axel away from the throne, kneeling down in front of Rose now.

"This is a room of healing. It is made up of pure light and can heal the darkness of hearts" he explained as he brushed the hair from her face. He then stood up and glanced over at Axel who had his fists clenched at his sides. "I know it wasn't you who betrayed us. I have already disposed of the traitor. I apologize for misplacing my anger. I did not mean to hurt you or her. She will be fine in a few days" Xemnas said as he took a step back, heading in the direction of the portal again. Axel paused to watch her quietly as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I will be back for you in a few days, my love. I promise" he said quietly, following Xemnas through the portal once again. When they had emerged, he had quickly parted ways with Xemnas and stormed out of the room, in the direction of Casaix's room. Axel knocked on the door loudly, hoping he was there. Casaix quickly opened the door a few moments later, a look of confusion on his face.

"What's the matter, Axel?" he said, concern in his voice. Axel sighed and took Casaix by the hand, pulling him out of the room.

"I'm calling a meeting. I'll explain everything when we get there. Please gather our friends" he told Casaix, letting go of his hand and heading down the hallway. Casaix paused for a brief moment, trying to make sense of all of this. He shook his head and decided not to think about it too much as he made his way in the opposite direction, deciding it was best to just go along with it.

When Axel and Casaix finally managed to gather all of Rose's close friends, Axel stood in front of them, clearing his throat to get their attention. Everyone stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on him.

"Now, before I say anything further, I just wanted to let everyone know Rose is fine. There was an accident that happened and she got hurt, but shes going to be fine" he began. Roxas quickly sat up in his seat, a shocked look on his face.

"What happened?! Who's ass do I have to kick?" he suddenly said. Axel shook his head, waving his hands out in front of him.

"No ass kicking for now. We need to wait for Rose to get better before we do anything! She's currently healing in an undisclosed location and will be better in a few days. In the meantime, we need to come up with a plan to help get rid of Xemnas" he said firmly. Everyone looked at each other in shock at his declaration.

"Are you sure we're even strong enough to do this? Rose is hurt and Okami is still missing!" Rae piped up, "even when she's better we still won't be strong enough to take HIM on!"

"Are you kidding? Rose doesn't need her sister! She can take out any one of us here AND Xemnas by herself! Roxas said.

"I agree with Roxas. She doesn't need any of you to help her out. She's stronger than all of us combined. Rose can easily take Xemnas on!" Lexon explained, taking a drag from his cigarette. Xyle pushed himself from the wall he was leaning on and sat on the arm of the couch near Roxas.

"You guys are such idiots. You can't just rush in and hope to beat Lord Xemnas! You need a plan and a good one at that" he told them. All their eyes turned in his direction, causing his face to blush slightly red.

"What do YOU know about Xemnas that you're not telling us. Hmm?" Lexon said, looking at him suspiciously. Xyle chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, it's pretty simple on how to beat him. What does he want more in the world? He wants a heart! And who is the two people he cares the most about in the entire world? His daughters! We have to use them to defeat him!" he explained to them, waiting for their reactions.

"I'm not putting her in harms way again. Not going to happen" Axel told him, crossing his arms over his chest. Xyle sighed and ran a hand through his medium length hair in annoyance.

"If you guys don't want to listen to me, fine. Suit yourselves! If you need me I'll be in the dining hall" he huffed as he disappeared out the door. Axel paused to wait for him to close the door before he continued.

"Anyone else have any ideas? Yes his idea is a good one, but I don't want Rose or Okami getting hurt in all of this" he told them. At that moment, Saix appeared, his hand clenching his side. He fell to his knees in front of Axel. Axel quickly crouched down next to him, a look of concern on his face. "Saix! What happened?!" he exclaimed. Saix glanced up at him, a small smile on his face.

"I'm alright. This is only a scratch" he assured him. Axel rolled his eyes and helped his friend to his feet, making room beside Roxas and sat him down.

"Is there anyone left?" he asked. Saix winced in pain as he sat back, looking up at his friend.

"As far as I know, several of us are still alive. When I thought you died, I went after Sora, but he almost got me. I had to leave before I was killed" he explained. Axel nodded and turned his attention back to the others.

"We will have to wait til Rose is healed as well as Saix before we do anything. We'll meet back here in a few weeks to go over the plan" he said, dismissing everyone. As everyone was leaving, Roxas decided to stay behind to help Axel.

"Axel, you didn't tell us what happened to Rose" he said quietly. Axel turned his attention to Roxas, a sad look in his eyes.

"She got hit by darkness. She's now in a secret room in the castle so she can heal. That's all I know" he assured him. Roxas clenched his fist, seeming like he was ready for a fight.

"Who did this! I'll kill them!" he spat. Axel walked over to him and placed his hands on the young boys shoulders.

"You can't help Rose if you're dead. You need to calm down and think about this rationally. Got it memorized?" he said soothingly. Roxas sighed and nodded, unclenching his fist soon afterwards.

"You're right. I'm sorry" he said quietly, glancing over to Saix, "need help taking him to the infirmary?" he asked. Axel nodded and made his away over to Saix who was still on the couch, Roxas following beside him as they lifted him up, causing him to wince.

"I can walk you know" he muttered, a slight pout to his lip. Axel rolled his arms and wrapped an arm around his friend.

"I know, but I just don't want your injury to get worse. Rose would kill me if you died" he said with a chuckled. Saix chuckled at his comment, causing him to wince again as he walked with the help of Roxas and Axel down the hall to the infirmary. When they got there, Rae was waiting for them now wearing a nurses outfit.

"Come! I have a bed ready for him" she said, ushering them over to the empty bed beside her. She helped them lower him carely on to the bed and waved her hands in the signal that she wanted them to leave now. Axel took Saix's hand gently and squeezed it, kissing the back of it gently.

"I'll see you later, okay? Don't die on me" he teased as he let go of Saix's hand, turning his attention to Roxas, "Hungry? Let's get something to eat" he told him as he put a hand on his back, leading him to the door.

A few days passed and Rose had not returned yet. Axel was starting to get worried. He wondered if the darkness was too much for her and she would not wake up again. Axel sat in her bedroom in her usual spot by the window, playing with something in his hand. It was the popsicle stick she had saved to take him for his free ice cream. He glanced down at the stick when the door opened to the bedroom, interrupting his thoughts. Axel glanced over and saw Rose standing there, a small smile on her face.

"Did you miss me?" she said, a grin on her face as she leaned against the doorway. Axel stood up slowly, trying to take in what he was seeing. He made his way over to her quickly as he wrapped his arms around tightly, pulling her against him.

"Rose" Axel breathed, leaning down to press his lips against hers. Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, staying like that for a few moment before pulling away from him.

"I wasn't gone that long, silly! It's only been a few days. I think? Either way I'm back now so you don't have to worry" she said softly. Axel smiled and brushed the hair from her face gently, admiring her for a moment.

"When he attacked you, I thought for sure he would have killed you. But, you're safe now that's all that matters" he said quietly as he hugged her gently before pulling away. Rose watched him quietly, her thoughts interrupted by the door opening beside them. Casaix peering inside the bedroom, a small on his face.

"Rose! You're back" he said happily, stepping inside. Rose smiled and held out an arm to him, still holding on to Axel. Casaix chuckled and hugged her, grinning in Axel's direction. "So, do I get to know what happened to you? Or is that off limits?" he questioned. Axel glanced in Rose's direction, waiting for her okay. Rose nodded in his direction.

"You can tell him, we can trust him" she assured him. Axel nodded and pulled away, running a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Well, Xemnas got angry because he thought I was betraying the Organization. So he decided the best way to take care of it was to kill me. Well, Rose got in the way and she got hit by the ball of darkness intended for me. She was put in a room no one knows about besides Xemnas and now shes back" he explained, looking from Casaix to Rose.

"Well that explains a lot" Casaix said grimly, touching Rose's back gently, "I'm just glad you're okay" he said, a small smile on his face. Rose smiled back at him and looked over at Axel who was watching them carefully.

"Let's go get something to eat" she announced, taking Axel and Casaix by the hand, leading them out the door to the dining hall. Rose paused when came face to face with Roxas, waiting for him to notice her. Roxas stopped for a moment, looking her in the eye for a moment.

"Rose, you're back! I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you" he suddenly said, practically launching himself at her. Rose laughed and caught him, hugging him tightly to her.

"I missed you too! So glad you actually remembered who I was" she joked. Roxas pulled away from her enough to look her in the face.

"Of course! I would never forget about you" he said quietly, his face really close to hers. Rose watched him and smiled, unsure of how to proceed with this. Axel was standing right there watching them, an annoyed look on his face. Rose leaned forward and kissed his cheek before pulling away again.

"Let's go see some food, I'm super hungry after that long nap" she laughed and led them to the dining hall where all her friends were gathered. She didn't know how they all knew she was back so soon, but she enjoyed having all the attention. Rose took a seat beside Lexon and smiled shyly.

"Hey, Rose! Glad to have you back" he said, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. Rose smiled and touched his cheek gently.

"I'm glad to be back as well. I missed all you guys and I'm sorry I put you all through that" she told them. Roxas sat down beside her, touching her arm gently.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault, okay? Let's just forget about what happened and move on from it. You hungry? I got your favorite" he said offering her Asian noodles with faux chicken in it. Rose grinned and took it from him, taking a big bite.

"Mmm, thank you!" she said, mouthful of food. Axel sat down across from her, watching her quietly. As he watched her, he thought of how happy she looked and wished he could make her happy like that. Rose glanced up at him, a smile on her face. "You do make me happy, Axel" she assured him. Axel looked at her in shock, not believe what he was hearing. How could she have known what he was thinking at that moment?

"Um, Rose. How did you do that?" Axel said, watching her carefully. Rose shrugged and picked at her noodles.

"Well, ever since I woke up from being out for so long, I suddenly have the ability to tell what people are feeling. Not their exact thoughts, but something along the lines of what they're thinking" she explained, glancing up at him. Axel sat back in his seat and watched her.

"That's a cool ability. Would be good in combat" he told her, going back to his food. Rose glanced up and saw Saix standing behind Axel, a smile on his face.

"Saix! Thank god you're okay! I heard what happened" she said as she stood up to greet him. Saix shook his head and motioning for her to sit down, making his way over and bend down to hug her gently.

"No need to worry about me. I'm totally fine" he assured her, kissing the top of her head. "I just came to say hello, I need to report to Xemnas about the incident now that I'm a little better. I'll see you later, sweetie" he said, giving her another quick kiss on the head before heading for the door. Rose watched him leave and sighed quietly.

"I can't wait for this crap to stop. My father is starting to really annoy me" she muttered. Roxas put a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention.

"We'll get back at him later. For now we need to get you back in shape!" he told her, a determined look on his face. Rose laughed quietly and shook her head in amusement.

"I missed you guys so much! After dinner we should relax with a movie then see if we can get a small mission for today" she said, taking a bite of her noodles. Axel watched her and smiled, amused about her enthusiasm. Rose smiled over at him, reaching across the table to hold his hand gently, "you're welcome to come too! I'm sure father won't say no after what happened" she assured him.

"You're right, dear. I'd love to come with you and Roxas. I could be really fun" he said, squeezing her hand gently. When they were done eating, they made their way to the living area for a movie. They had decided on a horror movie, glad to have a distraction. Rose sat down between Roxas and Axel, leaning against Axel who put an arm around her and sat her legs on Roxas' lap. Roxas smiled and pulled off her shoes, starting to rub her feet.

"Excited for our mission later. I'm sure it will be great! We can have ice cream afterwards!" he said excitedly. Rose nodded and smiled in agreement, getting comfortable against Axel. Today was going to be a great day.


	14. Chapter 13: Realizations

After the movie, Roxas and Rose headed in the direction of the door, closely followed by Axel. They all made their way to the throne room where Xemnas was waiting for them like usual. Xemnas sat in his usual spot, watching them from up above.

"Welcome my children. I have a very important mission for Axel and Rose. I'm sorry, Roxas. You can't go on this mission at this time. It's a very sensitive mission that could potentially go wrong if you were to be there" he explained. Rose looked over at Roxas for a second before returning her gaze to her father.

"Then I'm not going" she said simply, crossing her arms over her chest, "I promised to do a mission with Roxas and that's what I'm going to do" she said, waiting for Xemnas' reaction. Xemnas sighed and appeared in front of her, standing very close.

"Child, do not test me. I have a mission for Roxas of great importance as well. He will be training our newest member" he tried to explain to her, motioning towards the doorway. Rose turned and watched as a hooded figure appears through the doorway, their head down and face covered by their hood.

"This is a joke, right? You added another member to the organization?! We already have so many people under your thumb! Why do we keep adding more people?" she said angrily. Xemnas sighed and placed a hand on top of her head in the attempt to calm her down.

"Calm yourself, will you? This is not an ordinary person. I will not go into specifics with you, but she is very important to our mission" he said. Rose rolled her eyes and walked over to the hooded figure with a determined look on her face she yanked down the persons hood. The person, who she now noticed was female, had short black hair and bright blue eyes. They looked up at her, a look of familiarity on their face.

"Hello, I'm Xion. Nice to meet you, Rose" Xion said, holding out a hand in her direction. Rose glanced down at her hand, unsure of how to proceed with this. She looked over to Axel for support. Axel shrugged and motioned for her to shake the girls hand. Rose nodded and turned her attention to Xion, taking the girls hand in her own.

"Nice to meet you, Xion. You better listen to everything Roxas says, got it?" she warned, pulling her hand away. Xion watched her quietly, unsure of what to say now after Rose's statement.

"Rose, be nice to our new member. If you continue to act this way I will remove you from any future missions, understood?" Xemnas snapped from behind her. Rose flinched at his words and turned towards him.

"My apologizes, father. It won't happen again" she promised as she turned away from Xion to rejoin Roxas and Axel. "Roxas, I know I said we were suppose to go on a mission together, but I don't want to deal with my father today. Our next mission will be together I promise, okay?" she whispered in his ear. Roxas nodded and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek.

"I totally get it. You be safe, okay? I'll be sure to be here when you get back" he promised, pulling her into a firm hug. Rose hugged him back and breathed, taking in his scent. He smelled of ramen and body wash. Rose sighed softly as she pulled away from him.

"See you soon, Roxas" she said quietly, touching his cheek as she pulled away. Roxas suddenly grabbed her out of the blue and pulled her in again, pressing his lips firmly against hers. Rose paused in shock, unsure of what to do. She glanced over at Axel who watched them, no expression on his face. Rose decided in that moment that she would go along with this. She knew it would upset Axel, but he would eventually get over it. Roxas was the more sensitive one. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back for a brief moment, before slowly pulling away. Roxas smiled and touched her cheek gently before pulling away.

"Sorry, Axel. I couldn't hold that in any longer. I don't know what's going to happen on your mission and I wanted to do that in case something happened" he explained. Axel shrugged and took Rose by the arm gently, leading her away towards the portal he had opened.

"See you later, man" he said as they both disappeared into the portal. Roxas watched them leave, suddenly feeling quite sad now. He shook his head and then turned to Xion who was waiting there awkwardly.

"Sorry about that. Let's go" he said, taking her by the arm and leading her out the door. Roxas walked with her, deep in thought as they headed in the direction of the training room. He paused and let go of her arm. "I'll see you inside, I just need a moment" he told her quietly. Xion nodded and did as he said, opening the door to the training room.

"I'll see you inside, then" she said as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Roxas leaned against the wall and started to slide down as tears began forming in his eyes. As he reached the floor, he buried his face into his knees, sobbing quietly to himself. He suddenly felt a wave of emotions he had never felt before. He wasn't sure if he was crying of sadness that she was gone and may not return or happiness because she had actually kissed him back.

"What are you blubbering about?" a voice said, interrupting his thoughts. Roxas looked up, his face stained with tears as Lexon stood above him, taking a puff of his cigarette and blew the smoke away. Roxas narrowed his eyes at Lexon as he stood, reaching out to summon his Keyblade.

"None of your business, Lexon. Why do you always have to get involved in everything?" he spat. Lexon rolled his eyes and tossed his cigarette aside, a whip now appearing in his hand.

"You really don't want to mess with me right now, kid. I'm stronger than you'll ever be so I'd watch my back if I were you" he spat back, his whip suddenly bursting into flames. Casaix came up behind them, quickly standing in the middle of both of them.

"Guys! This is not the place or the time! You guys should be working together, not against each other. What would Rose think if you two were fighting?" he said, trying to diffuse the situation. Roxas and Lexon slowly lowered their weapons, realizing that Casaix was right. Rose wouldn't want them to fight against each other, but together. Roxas unsummoned his Keyblade as he turned away.

"Later, Casaix" he said as he disappeared through the door. Casaix turned his attention to Lexon who had unsummoned his whip, but watched him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Lexon, you should know better than that. You're one of the oldest members here and here you are trying to fight a child. You should be ashamed of yourself" he scolded. Lexon shrugged and turned away, his berating not really affecting him.

"Whatever you say, Casaix. I'm so done here" he said as he made his way down the hallway. Casaix sighed and lowered his head, some loose hair falling over his face. Xyle appeared beside him and touched his arm gently.

"Some people, huh? You think they're your friends, but they turn around and do crap like this" he assured his friend. Casaix glanced up at Xyle, a small smile on his face.

"He's just emotional right now. He also has feelings for Rose so it's clouding his judgement. He just needs time to cool off and then I'll go talk to him" he told Xyle as he touched his arm gently. Xyle grinned and punched his arm playfully.

"That's the Casaix I've known and loved. Now cheer up!" he said as he turned away from Casaix. Casaix smiled and brushed a hand through his hair to get the stray hairs away from his face.

"Thanks, that means a lot" he said quietly as he turned in the direction of the library. He decided he wanted to be alone to think about things and maybe catch up on his reading. When he got there, he sat down in his favorite couch and reached over to pluck a random book from the shelf. The book happened to be The Art of War that he had pulled out, making him chuckle slightly as he opened it, starting to read.

Axel and Rose appeared, a few moments after stepping into the portal, inside a tall white room. A girl glanced up from what she was doing, her blonde hair falling over her bright blue eyes. She pushed her hair back and squinted to see.

"Oh, Axel! You're back!" the girl exclaimed as she dropped what he had in her hands, which happened to be a drawing book, and ran over to hug him. Axel smiled and pat the top of her head gently.

"Nice to see you, Namine. Where's Sora?" he asked her, pulling away from her gently. Rose watched them with a look of confusion, but also slight jealousy. This was a new emotion to her and she was definitely sure she didn't like it. Axel led Namine over to Rose, a small smile on his face. "Rose my love, this is Namine. She's been helping us here" he explained. Rose glanced away, unable to look Namine in the face.

"Hi, Namine" she said shortly. Axel sighed and pulled his arm away from the girl and came up behind Rose, wrapping his arms around her, turning her towards the girl.

"Excuse my girlfriend. I don't think she's use to other women showing me affection" he said to her, leaning in so he could whisper into Rose's ear, "Namine is not going to take me away from you, okay? She's just being friendly" he assured her, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. Rose sighed and looked back in Namine's direction.

"Sorry, Namine. It's nice to meet you" she said sincerly. Namine smiled and looked from Rose to Axel and then Rose again.

"You two are very cute together. I can tell you will be together for a long time" she said, her smile growing. Rose looked up at Axel who shrugged back at her before pulling away.

"She had a gift of sight. She can see things no one else can" he explained to her. Namine nodded and took Rose's hand, leading her over to where she was sitting.

"If you're looking for Sora, he's on the floor below us. Riku is down in the basements by now. Last I saw he was fighting a boy named" she paused for a moment, trying to think of the name she had heard, "Zexion" she finally said. Rose turned her attention to Namine again.

"Riku?! Zexion?! Oh my gosh! Are they going to hurt each other?" she asked frantically, grabbing Namine by the hands, "We have to go get them before they kill each other!" Rose exclaimed, pulling away from Namine and rushing to the door. Axel quickly grabbed her and held her back, shaking his head.

"By the time we get here, one of them is going to be gone. You also don't know what Sora might do if you cross paths with him. He's been here quite a long time and he's really angry that he can't remember a lot of things. He may not even recognize you" he told her sadly. Rose's body went slightly limp at his comment. She could not believe what she was hearing. Her friends may not even recognize her and they were killing off her friends one by one for god knows what reason.

"I-I need to see Sora" she said quietly, tears starting to fill her eyes, her voice breaking slightly. Axel lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to the couch in the corner, laying her down gently.

"He'll come to us, then we can try talking to him. For now you stay here and out of harms way, okay?" he told her, brushing the hair from her face as he pulled off his jacket to use as a blanket for her. Rose sniffled and curled up under the jacket, tears rolling down her face by now. Namine watched them quietly, starting to feel a sadness deep inside her.

"He's on his way up now. Please get ready, Axel. We don't know how angry he is or how much memories he's lost from being here" she said. As she spoke, the doors slowly opened, Sora appearing from behind them, followed by a strange looking duck wearing a strange outfit and what appeared to be a dog wearing clothing.

"This is the last floor. I hope Namine is here. Donald and Goofy are you ready?" Sora said. The two who they now knew were Donald and Goofy nodded their head in agreement at this as they paused, noticing two other people in the room with them. "Namine! There you are!" he said, rushing over to her. Namine smiled and hugged him, glancing over at Axel.

"Sora, how are you feeling? What do you remember?" she asked him, looking back in her direction. Sora paused for a moment, looking from her to Axel and then to the figure that he could not distinguish on the couch.

"I was looking for you and then I remember I had killed Axel. But, wait! Axel I thought I killed you!" he said, pointing in Axel's direction. Axel shrugged and put his hands up.

"I'm still very much alive. I do have a question for you, though. Do you know a girl named Rose?" he said, walking over to him. Sora paused for a moment, trying to remember where he had heard that name before. He suddenly gasped and turned his attention back to Axel.

"Where is Rose?! What have they done to her!" he growled, rushing towards Axel, his Keyblade appearing in his hand. Axel summoned his chakrams and blocked his attack, sending sparks in every direction.

"Rose is fine! She's right over there!" he said, grimacing as he tried to hold Sora's attack back. Sora stopped suddenly as his Keyblade disappeared from his hand. He looked over in the direction Axel was facing now as Rose slowly sat up from the couch.

"Sora..." she said quietly as she stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. Sora's face broke up in a large grin as he rushed over to her, picking her up off the ground and twirled her for a moment before hugging her tightly against him.

"Oh, Rose! I was so worried about you. When they told me you were part of the Organization I had to find you and save you!" he said, hugging her tightly. Rose smiled and hugged her friend as he lowered her to the ground, still in each others arms.

"That part is true, but I'm not exactly part of it. My father is Xemnas who is reincarnated from Xehanort and it's all a mess, but I'll explain that to you at another time. I'm just so happy to see you!" she exclaimed, hugging him tighter. As they hugged, she wondered now how much of a hold Xemnas now had on her friends if they attacked Sora instead of just letting him by. Axel and Saix were the only two that left.

"Well, it's good to see you, Rose! I just have one question, though. Where did all my memories go?!" he said, turning his attention to Namine. Namine sighed sadly, turning her attention to him now.

"They designed this castle to basically take your memories from you and kidnapped me, forcing me to alter them so you would forget all your friends. Now that most of the people are gone now, especially the one who initially captured me, now I can restore your memories. The only downside is you'll forget everything you're learned here, including me" she said sadly. Sora clenched his fist and turned his attention to Axel.

"And you knew about this? Why didn't you try and stop them?" he said angrily. Axel put his hands up in defense.

"I didn't want to blow our cover. I knew Namine could fix ya when you got here so that's why I ducked out. I didn't want to risk you killing me and leaving Rose angry with you!" he shot back. Sora slowly unclenched his fist, nodding his head slowly.

"You're right. I'm sorry" he said quietly, motioning towards Donald and Goofy, "this is Donald and Goofy. They've been helping me fight my way here. Guys, this is my best friend Rose and her boyfriend Axel. Also this is Namine who I grew up with" he explained to them. Namine walked over and took his hand in her own.

"Actually, Sora. The person you were trying to find is your friend Kairi. They made me alter your memories to forget about her and replace it with me. You don't actually know me, but I'm a part of Kairi" she explained to him. Sora looked at her for a moment, the anger slowly rising again, but soon went back down when she mentioned Kairi.

"So you can give me my memories back, right? But will I still remember you?" he said, turning himself to he was facing her. Namine shook her head sadly as she looked away from him.

"You will forget me. You will forget everything that happened here" she said quietly. Sora shook his head and turned her so she was facing him again.

"I will always remember you. I'm sure we'll meet again some day" he assured him. Namine smiled as she looked over at Rose and Axel.

"If you guys are ready I can take you to the Chamber of Waking. DiZ is waiting for us there to put you in the chamber. Come on" she said as she led them out the door and into a room that was completely white and empty with the exception of three pods in the middle of the room attached to a computer. Sora made his way over to the middle pod, pausing to look at them.

"I'll see you guys later, okay? Don't you forget about me" he teased, looking over at Rose. Rose stepped towards him and took his hands gently.

"I'll see you when you get out. I promise i'll be here when you wake up" she assured him, leaning to kiss his cheek softly. Sora smiled and kissed the back of her hand before stepping into the pod. Goofy and Donald did the same as DiZ, who they now realized was in the room, pressed a button to make the pods close.

"Thank you, Namine. I can take it from here" he told her. Namine nodded and turned her attention back to Rose and Axel.

"You guys should go see if your friend is okay. We have it from here. Thank you for all your help" she said, a small smile on her face. Rose nodded and waved to Namine before disappearing out the door with Axel. Rose quickly rushed down the thirteen flights of stairs, pausing when she was at the basement door.

"Axel get ready, okay? We don't know what's down there" she told him, summoning her Keyblade. As they made their way down the flights of stairs to the basement, they realized the basement was eerily quiet. There was no one in sight as they walked into the room Zexion had been posted to. Rose paused when she realized there was no one here. She walked into the room quietly, stopping when she noticed a book on the floor. Axel came up behind her, a grim look on his face.

"That's Zexion's book. He never went anywhere without it" he said softly. Rose nodded and picked the book up, turning it over to examine it. She noticed something sticking out of one of the pages and opened the book, finding a letter inside addressed to her. She sat down on the ground and placed the book on her lap, starting to read the letter.

_'Dear Rose,_

_I just want to start this letter by saying you are the greatest person I have ever met in my entire life. I enjoyed spending time with you and I am honored to call you my friend. I'm sorry I went through with Xemnas' plan and I don't blame you for choosing me to help your friend Sora. I was bested by your other friend Riku who is a very strong fighter I might add. Please tell Rae I'm sorry and that I love her very much. I will see you guys one day again, I promise. I love you so much, Rose. Please forgive me for failing you._

_ Your friend for life, Zexion.'_

Rose lowered the letter slowly, her cheeks stained with tears once again. She felt like the worse person in the world right now. She knew Rae would never forgive her if she knew Rose had basically given a death sentence to Zexion. Rose quickly wiped the tears away as she stood up, hugging the book against her chest, letter still in her hand.

"We need to go back, now. I need to tell Rae what happened" she said quietly, resting her head against Axel's chest as she hugged the book closely. Axel nodded sadly and led her in the direction of the door, leading them both through the portal as it closed behind them.

As Rose expected, Rae was furious with her. Rae couldn't believe someone who she called a friend would do something like that to her. She picked up the book Rose had handed to her and tossed it in the direction, narrowly missing her head as it hit the wall.

"Just, get out! I don't want to see your face anymore!" she cried angrily, turning away from her. Rose reached down to pick up the book, thankful it had not been damaged as she hugged it to her chest.

"I'm sorry again" she said quietly as she ducked out of the room, narrowly missing being hit in the head with a lamp. Rose walked quietly back to her room with the book in her arms, wanting to be alone for now. She paused at her door, noticing someone leaning agains the wall nearby. It was Axel who she had assumed was waiting for her to come back. Axel pushed himself off the wall and made his way over to her, instantly wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I take it she didn't take it too well, huh? Well her loss then if she doesn't want to be your friend anymore. You didn't purposely have Zexion killed. It happens" he tried to explain to her, brushing the hair from her face that had been stuck there by tears. Rose smiled at him sadly and reached up to kiss him softly.

"I just need to be alone for a bit, okay? I love you" she said softly. Axel pulled her close for a brief moment, kissing her firmly before pulling away again.

"Of course, love. Take all the time you need" he whispered, touching her cheek softly. Rose smiled and opened the door to her room, glancing back in his direction before closing the door behind her. She made her way over to her favorite spot by the window, pausing when she noticed something there.

It was the stand Zexion use to keep his book on when he didnt use it. Rose smiled and gently placed the book there, reminding herself to thank whoever did that for her. She sat down in the window sill, looking up at the moon quietly as she thought of all her friends that she had lost.


	15. Chapter 14: Love & Betrayal

Rose glanced up when she heard the door open again. She was half expecting Axel to be standing then, but was shocked when it was in fact Lexon standing there. Lexon was not much for comforting people so that left her slightly confused. Lexon closed the door quietly behind him and watched her quietly.

"I hope you like your present. I had to sneak it when Rae wasn't looking" he explained to her. Rose's eyes began to fill with tears again, but tears of happiness this time. She couldn't believe someone would do that for her. Rose quickly wiped the tears as Lexon took a few more steps towards her.

"This is the best present I have ever gotten. Thank you so, so much. It means a lot to me that you did this. How did you manage to get it without Rae noticing?" she questioned. Lexon shrugged and paused when he was right in front of her, watching her carefully.

"I have my ways" he told her, moving her legs slightly so he could sit on the window sill with her. "How are you feeling by the way? I know, stupid question" Lexon said, waiting for her reaction and hoping he didn't upset her further. Rose shrugged and glanced away for a moment before looking back at him.

"I feel like complete crap if I'm being honest with you. I feel like a horrible person for putting everyone through all of that. It should have been me that died, not Zexion" she said, her eyes slowly filling with tears again as her voice broke. Lexon leaned closer and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him gently.

"Hey, no need to cry. You can't change what happened, but you can change what's going to happen next. I'm sure one day Rae will forgive you and she will move on and find someone else. It's not that big of a deal" he told her, his bright blue eyes shining with admiration for her. Rose glanced up at him quietly and nodded.

"I guess you're right. I hate disappointing people though. Zexion didn't deserve to die. I did" she said. Lexon rolled his eyes and pulled her closer to him, running a hand gently through her hair.

"Don't you say that about yourself. You are an amazing person and you do not deserve to die at all. Please don't ever said that again" he said firmly, making sure she was looking him in the eye when he said that. Rose watched him for a few moments before nodding her head. She knew he was right, she had a lot to live for. Rose however could not bring herself to say anything so she just lay her head on his shoulder again, enjoying his company. After a few moments, Rose glanced up at Lexon again.

"You are so not the Lexon I use to know as a kid. You were emotionless and sarcastic all the time. What happened?" she questioned. Lexon looked down at her and shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but he was afraid of scaring her away because she was with Axel. He pondered for a few moments before answering.

"I've grown fond of you over the years. I use to think of you as an annoying kid if I'm being honest with you. I've gotten to know you as a person and realized you are more than just an annoying kid, you're an amazing person who is deserving of love. You don't deserve to die as much as I don't deserve to die. If I'm still going to be honest with you, I think Im actually falling for you" he told her, the words coming from his mouth before he could stop himself. Rose watched him in shock, half expecting what he was going to say, but was still shocked nonethless.

"You-like me?" she said, still clearly in shock at his response. Lexon watched her for a moment before nodding.

"Yea, I'm not going to hide it anymore. I have feelings for you and they will never change. I know you're with Axel right now, but I'm a patient person. When I fall for someone I think of no one else but them. And even if you don't like me that way, that's fine too. I'm content with staying friends with you. You are an amazing person and I love you" he explained, pausing and hoping he didn't upset her and scare her away. Rose's face broke into a smile at his words.

"Lexon you are so amazing. I can't believe you waited this long to tell me! I thought you hated me if I'm the one being honest. How long did you know that you liked me?" she asked him. Lexon thought for a moment before answering her question.

"For a while now. Probably around the time we met up again after what happened with Xehanort" he told her, squeezing her arm gently. Rose's cheeks began to turn a bright red, unsure of how to feel about this. Part of her loved the fact he liked her and she may even like him, but the other part was she wondered what Axel would think about this. The more she thought about it, the more she realize she loved both of them the same way. Rose looked back to Lexon and smiled, her cheeks still a bright red.

"I will have to talk to Axel about this. I really like you, Lexon. Now that I think more about it, I realize that I like you as much as I like Axel. I'm not going to deny my feelings, but embrace them. You are an amazing person who has basically been around all of my life and I want to be with you as much as I want to be with Axel. I will let you know what he says when I talk to him" she told him, taking his free hand in her own and squeezing it gently. Lexon smiled and lifted her hand to his lips, placing a small kiss on the back of her hand.

"Take all the time you need. As I told you, I'm a very patient person" he assured her, a small smile on his face. Rose blushed a deeper shade of red as she stood, pulling her hand from his gently as not to offend him. Lexon watched her pull away, his grin growing wider, "Are you going to tell him now?" he asked her. Rose smiled and touched his hand gently before heading in the direction of the door.

"If I don't say anything now I'll be scared to say it later" she told him, pausing at the door to blow him a kiss before disappearing through it. Rose made her way down the hallway, pausing in mid step when she heard voices coming from Axel's room. The door had been open a crack, showing Axel standing with a hooded figure and talking closely together. She stood near the door and pulled her hood up, listening quietly.

"You are so sweet. I'm sorry that you went through all of that and I'm sure Rose didn't mean to upset you" he told the figure, reaching down to take the person's hand into his own. The figure sighed and looked up at Axel.

"I feel like she's always hated me and was always jealous of me. Sometimes I think she did this on purpose to hurt me" the voice said, breaking slightly as if they were crying. Axel reached down to turn the figure's face towards him, the hood falling from their face and revealed Rae.

"She doesn't hate you. She thinks of you as a really good friend. Please don't cry" he said quietly. Rae sniffled and leaned towards him, their faces close to each other now.

"You always know what to say, Axel. You are a great friend to me" she said as she leaned closer, pressed her lips against Axel's. Rose watched them, her fist turning into a ball as she clenched it. She watched them hoping Axel would pull away, but he didn't. He leaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her. Rose's eyes filled with tears as she pulled away from the door, running back in the direction of her bedroom. She was stopped by a figure that was coming out of their own room.

"Woah, Rose! Are you okay?" Cassaix asked, holding her by the shoulders. Rose burst into tears at his comment, trying to fight to get away from him.

"Please! Just let me go!" she cried. Cassaix shook his head and pulled her closer, holding her tightly against him as she sobbed into his chest, still fighting against him. He held on to her tighter at this.

"Come to my room. You are clearly upset and I know you probably need someone to talk to" he told her, leading her back in the direction of his room and closed the door behind them. Cassaix gently sat her down on the bed as she continued to sob, taking a seat beside her and took one of her hands to comfort her. After a few moments, Rose had finally calmed down a little, enough to form a few sentences.

"Rae. She kissed Axel and he didn't pull away" she said quietly, sniffling. Cassaix watched her, a look of concern on his face.

"Are you sure? That doesn't sound like Rae. You two were best friends. Why would you think she would do that?" he asked. Rose looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face.

"Because like every woman I know, she's not what she seems. She plays nice, but deep down she's not a nice person" she said quietly. Cassaix watched her in disbelief at what he was hearing. In all the years he'd known Rose, he knew she would never lie about something like this.

"I can talk to her if you want. I'm sure she would tell me and we can figure this out" he told her assuringly, squeezing her hand. Rose nodded and smiled slightly.

"Thank you, Cassaix. You're a good friend" she said to him. Rose glanced up when she heard a knock at the door. The person didn't wait for her to say anything as they opened the door, Axel standing there, a look of concern on his face.

"Is everything okay, sweetie? I heard crying" he said, stepping inside the room and closing the door behind him. Rose pulled her hand away and stood up, making her way over to where Axel was standing by the door.

"I want to know what you were doing kissing Rae" she said bluntly, now face to face with him. Axel watched her carefully, trying to figure out what to say.

"Normally, I would say 'this is not what it looks like', but I'm not an idiot. I was trying to comfort someone who was upset, but it went too far. I'm really sorry that happened, but that doesn't change what I did. I should have pulled away, but I didn't. She was upset and I felt bad for her, I was just trying to help her. I promise you that it will not happen again and I would never do anything to purposely hurt you" he explained to her, taking her hands into his own. Rose looked him in the eye, waiting to see if his gaze would waver to indicate he was lying, but it didn't.

"I can't believe she would do that to me. Her and I were friends, but I guess we aren't now. I understand her boyfriend died, but to do this and purposely try to hurt our relationship? That's just downright cruel" she told him, reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. Axel nodded and sighed, pulling her closer to him.

"Please forgive me. I didn't mean for it to get that far. It's like I couldn't control my own body anymore. I hope I didn't upset you too much because you mean the world to me. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" he asked her, holding her close to him. Rose glanced up at him, a small smile on her face.

"What I was actually coming to tell you before that happened was Lexon told me how he truly feels about me and I wanted to know if you were okay with me exploring these feelings with him. I care about both of you the same and I'd like to one day have all of us together. What do you say?" she asked. Axel paused for a moment, contemplating his answer, before sighing quietly.

"Alright, but he sleeps in his own bed. We barely have enough room as it is in mine" he joked. Rose rolled her eyes playfully and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you for understanding. The heart wants what it wants and I wanted to tell you because you deserve at least that. I love you so much, Axel" she said hugging him tightly. Axel smiled and held her gently, glancing over at Cassaix.

"Thank you for comforting her. You're a great friend and proud to call you a brother" he said, winking in Cassaix direction. Cassaix smiled and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"I do what I can for my friends. Rose is an amazing person and so are you. I would hate for anyone to get hurt" he said, watching them. Rose looked over at him and smiled, holding an arm in his direction as if motioning for him to come over. Cassaix nodded and came over, hugging the both of them for a brief moment before pulling away.

"We should probably start funeral arrangements for our fallen team mates. I can't believe Father would allow this to happen to so many of us. There was very few of us to begin with, now there's barely any" Rose said quietly as she pulled away from them, making her way to the door. She walked towards her bedroom, pausing when Lexon appeared from behind the door.

"There you are! I was looking all over for you. Are you okay, sweetheart?" he asked, holding a hand in her direction. Rose nodded and took his hand, moving closer to him and looked up at him.

"I'm fine, Lexon. There's something I need to tell you" she said, taking both of his hands in own. Lexon looked down at her, his eyes full of concern.

"Did something happen? Did he say no?" he said, a hint of worry in his voice. Rose smiled and shook her head, leaning up in his direction.

"He said yes" she whispered, pressing her lips against his softly. Lexon's face broke into a wide grin as he wrapped his arms around her, leaning into the kiss for a few moments before pulling away.

"I am so happy right now. I'm so glad I get this opportunity to be with you. I love you so much, Rose" he said quietly against her lips. Rose smiled and hugged him tightly as she pulled away slightly.

"I love you too, Lexon. Could you help me with something? I want to make a memorial for all our fallen friends" she said softly. Lexon nodded and pulled away, taking her by the hand and led her in the direction of the library.

"I would do anything for you" he assured her.


End file.
